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Arcadia

Arcadia serves humanity by preserving endangered cultural heritage and ecosystems.

We protect complexity and work against the entropy of ravaged and thereby starkly simplified natural environments and globalized cultures. Innovation and change occur best in already complex systems. Once memories, knowledge, skills, variety, and intricacy disappear – once the old complexities are lost – they are hard to replicate or replace. Arcadia aims to return to people both their memories and their natural surroundings. What we want to preserve remains fragile, small and dispersed. But if we do not protect it – if it vanishes forever – then future generations will have no base from which to build a vibrant, resilient, green future.

Because knowledge should belong to all, we also promote open access, seeking to make information available without barriers of cost or distance. Charities, businesses, universities, schools, the media, politicians, and citizens all benefit when research and data are no longer locked behind paywalls or reserved for those who live near their repositories. The economy benefits too from better-informed decisions, improved schooling and knowledgeable citizens, from enhanced academic research and innovation based on shared knowledge.

We do not accept applications, but seek and support organizations run by exceptional individuals, operating in a cost-effective, scientifically sound, and ethical manner that share our vision.

Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin

Funder Website

Arcadia Projects

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Digitizing the Justino Valentim Collection of Vaihoho Sung-Poems, Lautem, Timor-Leste

The Vaihoho sung-stories of the native Fataluku people of Timor-Leste are considered as the group’s most valued repertoire. A significant amount of these stories were document…

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MEAP UCLA

Digitization and Preservation of Audio Recordings of Music and Oral Traditions in the Collections of Rupayan Sansthan, India

Musical and oral traditions of desert populations in western Rajasthan are sacred to the local community, but are slowly disappearing from existence. To preserve these traditi…

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MEAP UCLA

Captain Zuzinha's Band: Digitization of Manuscripts Scores of Frevo from the Early 20th Century as World Heritage

Frevo music has been an significant piece of Brazilian culture for decades. Throughout the twentieth century, frevo band Military Police (later named “Captain Zuzinha Frevo Ba…

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Argentinean Human Rights Digital Library of Periodical and Non-periodical Publications

Memoria Abierta, a collective group of Argentinean human rights organizations (HROs), focuses on remembering rights violations during the country's most violent dictatorship a…

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Sinai Palimpsest Project: Open Access Online Publication

To provide open access online publication of multispectral images produced by the Sinai Palimpsest Project, which documents the manuscripts in St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sin…

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Sinai Palimpsest Project: Digitization of Syriac and Arabic manuscripts in Saint Catherine Monastery, Sinai

To digitize and publish online the Arabic and Syriac manuscript codices of St. Catherine's Monastery in Sinai.

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EAMENA: Documentation of Endangered Archaeological Heritage in the Middle East and North Africa

To create a database of endangered archaeological heritage in the Middle East and North Africa using satellite imagery and on the ground survey.

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International Digital Ephemera Project

To digitize, preserve and provide free online access to endangered modern printed and digital ephemera.

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Exploration and Conservation of African Rock Art

To survey, document and conserve rock art sites across Africa.

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