2017 - All Press Releases

Springer Nature imprints support World Refugee Day

Apress partners with Humble Bundle to raise funds for charity, and Palgrave Macmillan highlights refugee related content on dedicated webpage with free access to journal articles

Heidelberg | London, 19 June 2017 

Apress, the computer science imprint of Springer Nature, recently partnered with web retailer Humble Bundle to create a charity promotion that has raised over $40,000. One of the charities receiving donations is the International Rescue Committee, which is a global nonprofit that provides aid to refugees in the US and abroad. The second beneficiary is the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit organization which defends civil liberties in the digital world. The donation will be announced in conjunction with World Refugee Day on 20 June 2017.

Humble Bundle supports a number of charities by offering media packages to its customers on a pay-what-you-want basis. This charity bundle of 12 Apress ebooks, all on the topic of Linux and other forms of “open source” computer and web programming, drew nearly 30,000 avid coders, who designated portions of all sales to the charities. Titles included the best-selling 2017 release, “Introducing Ethereum and Solidity,” as well as guides to Linux, Ubuntu, Vim, Docker, and Nginx coding environments.  

World Refugee Day is also a focus for Springer Nature’s imprint Palgrave Macmillan, which has launched a special webpage  with free access to selected journal articles until 20 July 2017. Visitors to this special page will find original articles, and online book excerpts on the latest research about global refugee crises, asylum policies, human rights and related research topics.

Founded in 2001, World Refugee Day is observed every year on 20 June. It commemorates the strength, courage and perseverance of millions of refugees and displaced people globally.  

Welmoed Spahr, Managing Director at Apress said: “At Apress we were delighted to work with our friends from Humble Bundle and with some of our Linux and Open Source authors on this great initiative. We know that many in the open source community care deeply about values like sharing and giving back, and about social justice, but we were overwhelmed by the positive response from many of our customers and authors.”

Michael Drapper, who is a marketing manager for social sciences at Springer Nature said: “In making some of Palgrave Macmillan’s recently published journal papers on refugee crises free to access and working with the authors of our books for timely original contributions, we hope to both raise awareness of these important issues and to bridge the gaps between academic research, policy and activism, bettering the lives of those affected.”
The Palgrave Macmillan webpage for World Refugee Day is available here


Humble Bundle sells games, ebooks, software, and other digital content through pay-what-you-want bundle promotions, the Humble Store, and the Humble Monthly curated subscription service. When buying a bundle, customers not only choose how much to pay, but also how their payment is divided between the content creators, charity, and Humble Bundle. Purchases from the Humble Store and subscriptions to Humble Monthly also help support charity. In 2017, Humble Bundle announced the launch of a multi-platform funding and creative initiative to publish games "Presented by Humble Bundle." Since the company's launch in 2010, Humble Bundle and its community have raised more than $98 million for a wide range of charities across the world. To see more, visit https://www.humblebundle.com.

Apress is an imprint of Springer Nature which provides practical, hands-on tech content for developers and other IT professionals worldwide. It now has over 2,800 available titles in print.

Springer Nature advances discovery by publishing robust and insightful research, supporting the development of new areas of knowledge, making ideas and information accessible around the world, and leading the way on open access. Key to this is our ability to provide the best possible service to the whole research community: helping authors to share their discoveries; enabling researchers to find, access and understand the work of others; supporting librarians and institutions with innovations in technology and data; and providing quality publishing support to societies.
As a research publisher, Springer Nature is home to trusted brands including Springer, Nature Research, BioMed Central, Palgrave Macmillan and Scientific American. Springer Nature is also a leading educational and professional publisher, providing quality content through a range of innovative platforms, products and services. Every day, around the globe, our imprints, books, journals and resources reach millions of people. For more information, please visit springernature.com and @SpringerNature.

Further information

About Humble Bundle
About the International Rescue Committee
About the Electronic Frontier Foundation
More information on Open Source programming guides from Apress is available here

Contact

Elizabeth Hawkins | Springer Nature | Communications
tel +49 6221 487 8130 | elizabeth.hawkins@springernature.com

For further information about Humble Bundle contact anna@humblebundle.com