About RYB
Red Yellow Blue (RYB) is a social enterprise researching and telling the story of global development through colour, culture and creativity. Discover our mission, our projects, and the Cosmology of Peace framework that guides our work.
RYB
A question we keep asking
Governments stay connected through embassies and trade delegations. NGOs do vital work, but often operate alone, competing for members and funding. Conferences happen once a year. Festivals come and go. Then what?
We noticed a gap: there is no single place online where people interested in global development can follow what is happening, country by country, and see how culture and creativity connect to it. RYB wants to fill that gap.
What RYB is building
RYB is a social enterprise and start-up founded by a team of creatives working inside the creative industries. We believe culture and creativity are powerful forces for improving global development and peacebuilding. Our work combines purpose-driven activities with commercial ones — that balance keeps us sustainable and independent.
We start with this website — a portal for global development. It brings together data, news, and research for anyone curious about how the world is changing, country by country. Alongside the website, we run country pages on social media, and we are building the Cosmology of Peace: a set of research projects and a touring exhibition tracing colour and culture across history.
Our approach to 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. We inform as a guide, helping people understand the global infrastructure of development, the work of the UN and NGOs, and the frameworks that guide international cooperation. From there, we create projects and initiatives that turn understanding into action.
Our projects and initiatives
We grow step by step, building this platform through research, storytelling, and collaboration.
Red Yellow Blue Silk Road
Our flagship research project traces how ancient civilisations independently used red, yellow and blue to record history, dye textiles, and weave sacred cultural narratives — from Imperial China to Anatolia and Mondrian’s De Stijl in the Netherlands. This research is the foundation for an exhibition we are developing, planned to open in Amsterdam or another city.
Learn more about the Red Yellow Blue Silk Road
Culture Women’s Days
Our first global programme celebrates the role of women in building cultures of peace and driving sustainable development. Through events, storytelling, and cross-border collaboration, we highlight how women contribute to peacebuilding, cultural exchange, and the realisation of human rights in their communities.
Learn more about Culture Women’s Days
Europa Regina
One of our main projects is Europa Regina, a website and portal about the creative industries. It features directories of fashion weeks and B2B trade shows, connecting professionals across the global creative economy. Europa Regina represents our belief that the creative industries are not separate from global development — they are a vital part of it.
Our three focus areas
These themes guide our website and future programming.
Global Development — See the world clearly
Data visualisations and digital maps show where the world is changing and where help is needed most. Our interactive world map covers 193 countries, each with its own SDG priorities and development landscape.
Culture of Peace — Culture as a force for peace
We join UNESCO’s Global Movement for a Culture of Peace and share its work widely. We believe that lasting peace is built not only through policy, but through the everyday practices of culture, dialogue, and creative exchange.
Women, Culture & Peace — A new research project
We are building this framework together with our community and partner organisations. It explores the intersection of gender, cultural expression, and peacebuilding — areas where a women-centered organizing model is transforming communities worldwide.
The meaning behind the name
Red, yellow, and blue are the primary colours of light. Most children learn them early — mix them and you create the whole spectrum.
For us, they represent something universal: all people share the same world. Long before they defined modern art movements, these three colours served as a shared human inheritance across ancient trade routes — used across unrelated civilisations, from Imperial China to Anatolia to the Netherlands, to record history, dye textiles, and weave cultural narratives. Our Red Yellow Blue Silk Road research traces that shared inheritance, and it’s the story our exhibition is being built around.
Looking forward
We have big plans, and we prefer to show rather than tell.
Right now: follow us on social media, explore our country pages, and follow the Red Yellow Blue Silk Road research as we publish it.
RYB Global Development — Informing. Connecting. Acting.