About Culture of Peace NL
What We Are
Culture of Peace NL and Amsterdam Creative City for a Culture of Peace form one project inside the RYB Global Development platform.
We are not a traditional NGO, a tour company, or an academic institute. We are a cultural research initiative with four overlapping layers:
An artistic vision.
Artists and designers explore peace as a living, evolving idea — through visual art, public interventions, and digital storytelling. Our aesthetic language is rooted in the De Stijl tradition: red, yellow, and blue as symbols of indivisible harmony.
A cultural platform.
We connect local and international voices — creatives, institutions, NGOs, and citizens — around one question: how does culture build peace in practice?
A civic experiment.
We treat Amsterdam as a living laboratory. Public spaces, cultural venues, and neighbourhood initiatives become data points and case studies for a transferable model.
A digital ecosystem.
This website archives our research, maps our findings, and connects collaborators. It is a workspace and a publication platform in one.
Together, these layers form one artwork in motion. Always evolving, never finished.
Make Amsterdam Red Yellow Blue Again
Our Research: Creative Cities for Culture of Peace
Our primary focus is a new research concept: Creative Cities for Culture of Peace.
UNESCO already runs a Culture of Peace Programme and a Creative Cities Network. No formal bridge connects the two. We are exploring what that bridge could look like.
Specifically, we ask:
- Can a city’s creative industries be measured for their peacebuilding impact?
- What policy frameworks would let cultural funding support social cohesion directly?
- How do Amsterdam’s existing cultural programmes — from neighbourhood ateliers to major institutions — already advance peacebuilding goals?
- What would a “Creative City for Culture of Peace” accreditation or framework require?
This research is in its early phase. We are conducting interviews, reviewing cultural policy literature, and building partnerships with academic and civic institutions in Amsterdam. Findings will be published as working papers on RYB’s Creative Cities portal and in a dedicated research section [future page: /research/] on this site.
Our Role in Amsterdam and the Netherlands
Culture of Peace NL works at ground level. We translate a worldwide mission into local action by:
- Mapping Amsterdam’s cultural infrastructure through a peacebuilding lens
- Convening conversations between artists, policymakers, and peace researchers
- Publishing accessible research that connects Dutch cultural policy to global frameworks
- Building community around the idea that creativity is not entertainment alone — it is infrastructure for coexistence
For the bigger picture behind this work, visit RYB Global Development.
The Netherlands in Global Context
Culture of Peace NL is part of a country-level network on RYB. Our work connects to national data and policy conversations:
- Netherlands Global Development — Aid, tax, climate, and trade
- Netherlands Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — Data & Progress
- Culture Women’s Day Netherlands — Women’s Right to Vote in the Netherlands
- Gender Gap The Netherlands — Pay, power, safety, and education
These profiles help us anchor Amsterdam’s cultural peacebuilding in the Netherlands’ broader development story.
How to Join This Work
Researchers and students:
We welcome thesis collaborations, literature reviews, and policy analysis.
Cultural practitioners:
Tell us about your work. We document Amsterdam’s culture-of-peace landscape and connect practitioners to global networks. Share your project, contact.
Policymakers and funders:
We are building the evidence base for Creative Cities for Culture of Peace. Explore the RYB Creative Cities framework.
Visitors and curious citizens:
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