The Mappa Mundi Project at Cambridge
Sandi Toksvig’s Mappa Mundi Project is raising funds to support an interactive digital atlas that documents and amplifies women's voices and contributions, starting with pilot studies in the UK and Afghanistan.
- 36 countries limit what wives can inherit from their husbands
- 18 countries allow men to prohibit their wives from working
- 17 countries limit when and how women can travel outside the home
- 0 countries have achieved gender equality
No wonder women make up only 0.5% of recorded history. Women’s stories and achievements have been systematically erased from the past and continue to be woefully underrepresented online today, with AI further amplifying and accelerating the problem.
Led by writer and broadcaster Sandi Toksvig and based at the University of Cambridge, the Mappa Mundi Project aims to counteract this erasure by creating an interactive digital atlas that documents and shares women’s voices, experiences, and contributions globally. Through innovative research, immersive storytelling, and data-driven insights, this project seeks to create an impactful and accessible online educational resource that supports learners, influences policymakers, and ensures that women’s narratives are seen, heard, and valued.
Mappa Mundi has a simple but essential goal—to tell women’s stories—changing the world by changing the way we look at it.
Mappa Mundi is a collaboration between Cambridge’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence and the Faculty of Education. It includes a team of leading gender, technology, education, and storytelling experts from across the University working in partnership with global NGOs like the Women of the World Foundation.
Pilot study
The project is currently raising funds for pilot studies in the UK and Afghanistan. The team will use various storytelling methods to document women's experiences and expertise and create a proof of concept of the digital atlas. Funds raised will support hiring a research team, including a project manager, to help launch the Mappa Mundi and develop the proof of concept of the digital atlas.
After completing and evaluating the pilot research and proof of concept, the project will expand globally in a second phase through more research, new partnerships with academic institutions and NGOs, and an enhanced digital atlas.
To learn more about the project, check out Sandi’s latest talk on Mappa Mundi presented at Darwin College in February 2025.
Next steps
You can donate to the Mappa Mundi Project online, or to discuss philanthropic opportunities, please contact Rosalind Griffin.
The project team can be contacted at mappamundi@lcfi.cam.ac.uk
Make a gift now
Make a gift now to support The Mappa Mundi Project at Cambridge by credit or debit card, or set up a direct debit:
Or, find out about other ways to give.
