RYB Global Development
Turning the history of colour and culture into a global movement for peace
RYB Global Development, also known as Red Yellow Blue (RYB), is an Amsterdam-based platform that connects citizens, NGOs and changemakers across 193 countries through research, storytelling and cultural initiatives built around the Sustainable Development Goals and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
RYB
What is RYB Global Development?
RYB is a global development platform that uses culture, art and the history of colour to make international development easier to understand and easier to take part in. Our work is organised around the Cosmology of Peace, a framework for understanding peace as a shared order that connects natural heritage, material heritage and human communities. Our research methodology explains how we work.
Red, Yellow, Blue: A Shared Human Inheritance
If human DNA carries the code for life itself, red, yellow, and blue might be described as something like a shared code for how humans build meaning. Independently, across history, many cultures reached for the same three colours to encode their understanding of the universe, from harmony and hierarchy to safety, identity, and design.
Long before red, yellow, and blue defined modern art movements, they carried meaning across ancient societies. Red, yellow, and blue are a shared human inheritance, found in the cosmology of ancient China and the abstract art of Mondrian’s De Stijl. RYB traces that history and builds on it, with new, original red, yellow, and blue art, brought together in a touring exhibition: the Red Yellow Blue Silk Road.
We tell this story through research and storytelling, linking to artworks held in museums and collections worldwide, from ancient carpets, pottery, and manuscripts to the paintings that followed. Follow the full journey on our Red Yellow Blue Silk Road page.
Part of a Global Movement for Shared Humanity
In 2022, UNESCO launched its Sharing Humanity campaign, built around what connects people across difference: quality education for all, reconciling humans with nature, science and technology in the service of humanity, and inclusive, peaceful societies built on mutual respect and understanding.
Red, yellow, and blue tell a similar story through colour. Different civilisations, independently, kept reaching for the same three colours to build meaning, order, and beauty. RYB sees its own work, tracing this shared colour history and building new, original art upon it, as an expression of that same idea: helping build inclusive and peaceful societies by showing people what already connects them.
What is the Cosmology of Peace?
To scale our global development mission from a universal point of view, RYB Global Development presents the Cosmology of Peace. True cosmology is the study of the overall nature, origin, structure, and future of the universe as a single, interconnected system. By shifting our perspective to this macro-level, we define peace not as a temporary political truce, but as a fundamental, permanent law of universal harmony.
Colorful geometric building structures with a blue sky background, featuring bold primary colors | photo Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz
The Cosmology of Peace explores how natural order, material heritages, and human communities naturally align across time and borders. Under this overarching cosmic architecture, we manage our three foundational pillars:
I. What is the Red Yellow Blue Silk Road?
Our flagship research project and touring exhibition, tracing how red, yellow, and blue travelled from ancient China outward, through Central Asia, Persia, and Europe, and into the art being made today.
→ Explore the Red Yellow Blue Silk Road Project
→ Discover the Exhibition
II. Women, Culture and Peace: Culture Women’s Days
Dedicated to highlighting the intersection of gender, heritage, and peacebuilding, this cornerstone initiative celebrates the historical and contemporary contributions of women to global harmony. Through local cultural preservation, international public dialogue, and creative expressions, we empower women as foundational pillars in establishing a universal culture of peace.
III. Creative Cities for Culture of Peace: A New UNESCO Concept
A strategic policy proposal focused on introducing a new operational theme into the established UNESCO Creative Cities Network, mobilising design, art, music, literature, and architecture as tools for global peacebuilding and cross-border diplomacy. RYB proposes that Amsterdam become the first city to hold this designation, leading a global network of creative municipalities.
→ Explore the Creative Cities for Culture of Peace Initiative
What is global development?
Global development is the collective effort of 193 UN member states, thousands of non-governmental organisations, and millions of citizens working toward a more equitable, sustainable, and peaceful world. At the centre of this effort are two foundational frameworks: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with its 30 articles protecting the dignity and freedom of every person, and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which set the global agenda for ending poverty, protecting the planet, and ensuring prosperity for all by 2030.
These frameworks shape the work of the United Nations, international development banks, national governments, and grassroots organisations. Yet for many people, this global infrastructure remains distant, discussed in conference halls and policy documents rather than in the communities where change actually happens. RYB exists to bridge that gap.
Explore 193 Countries
Every country on Earth faces its own unique challenges in advancing human rights and sustainable development. Our interactive world map lets you explore this landscape country by country, discover each nation’s SDG priorities, the organisations working there, and how RYB initiatives like Culture Women’s Days are taking root in communities around the world.
About RYB
We are a group of researchers, artists and designers building a platform for global development. Our editorial direction is led by Frank Verspoor, editor-in-chief of RYB Global Development. Our work begins with information, helping people understand the global infrastructure of development, the role of the UN and NGOs, and the frameworks that guide international cooperation. From there, we create initiatives that turn understanding into action.