Conserving and restoring nature
We want nature to survive and flourish. Our grants support solutions to the global biodiversity and climate crises.
Total awarded since 2002
$615m
Culture, Nature, Open Access
Arcadia helps people to record cultural heritage, to conserve and restore nature, and to promote open access to knowledge. We want future generations to enjoy the diversity of human culture and the natural world.
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Nuosu women with yellow umbrellas. Endangered Material Knowledge Programme. Photo by Cigui Edi.
Who we are
Arcadia is a family philanthropy founded by Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin in 2002. We are led by our donor board and supported by an expert advisory board and a small London-based team.
Our funding areas
Recording cultural heritage
We want future generations to have knowledge of the world’s cultural diversity. Our grants support digital documentation of cultural heritage which is poorly recorded and under threat.
Total awarded since 2002
$406m
Promoting open access
We want knowledge to be free for anyone, anywhere to access and use. Our grants help make knowledge available for free online, and help people find and use it
Total awarded since 2002
$213m
Since 2002 Arcadia has awarded $1.3 billion to organizations around the world.
Our grant recipients have ensured lasting support for millions of hectares of fragile ecosystems. They have created and shared hundreds of thousands of digital records of archives, languages, archaeological sites and craft practices. They have also overcome laws and commercial practices restricting access to publicly-funded research and government documents.
How we work
We make few, multi-year grants. We fund core costs, existing projects and develop partnerships to create new programmes. We build long-term relationships with our grant recipients. We replicate and expand successful projects and award repeat grants to continue outstanding work.
We don’t accept applications for funding but individuals and organizations can apply to programmes that we support.