ABOUT USArcadia supports work to preserve endangered cultural heritage, protect endangered ecosystems, and promote access to knowledge. Our aim is to defend the complexity of human culture and the natural world, so that coming generations can build a vibrant, resilient and green future.
We proactively seek and support organizations with strong leadership, that operate in a cost-effective, collaborative, scientifically sound and ethical manner, and that share our ambitions.
We are guided by our founders and rely on the expertise of our team, advisory board and networks to develop our strategy and grantmaking.
We make few, multi-year grants. We fund operational costs, existing projects or develop partnerships to create new schemes. We build long-term relationships with our grant recipients: we replicate and expand successful projects and award repeat grants to continue outstanding work.
PROMOTING OPEN ACCESS
Our aim is to improve access to human knowledge. Our grants help make information free for anyone, anywhere to access and use, now and in the future.
Access to knowledge is a fundamental human right. It advances research and innovation, improves decision-making, exposes misinformation and is vital to achieving greater equality and justice. The internet has transformed how we share, find and use information. But some materials that should legally and morally be free for anyone to access are still constrained by paywalls and restrictive copyright regimes.
Our grants help make this important information – including publicly funded research, standards, and laws – available for free online, and help people find and use this information. We do this by supporting direct activism for open access, and by working to improve open access to scholarship and the discoverability of open access content.
PROTECTING ENDANGERED NATURE
Our goal is to protect the natural diversity of the world, now and in the future. Our grants help to safeguard and restore unique and biodiverse areas of land and sea.
The loss of biodiversity and the degradation of environments threatens all life on earth. Protecting and restoring whole ecosystems helps to keep nature resilient and functional. It mitigates the consequences of human-created change arising from climate change and over-exploitation. When the natural world thrives, it can continue to provide the resources we rely on.
We support and promote evidence-based practical solutions to the global biodiversity and climate crises. We support local partnerships to create sustainable and beneficial outcomes for nature and for the people that depend on it. To achieve this we must have competent, committed and collaborative leadership supported by well-enforced governance that provides the legal and policy framework. This ensures that the protection of nature is effective and long-lasting.
