The time has come to create a new world bank.
A bank run by ideas and individuals,
that supplies solutions and knowledge.

That responds to the demands made by a world in which 2 billion people will be moving to cities over the next 20 years. And that makes use of the possibilities afforded by an interactive and digital world.

Why?

Well, to make the world better, smarter, more sustainable and more open.

The old world bank was created by the old world. An industrial world in which money was sent by central administrations, as aid and support. Simply because that was how things were done then. The new world bank sets out from the possibilities of our times.

Which is something completely different.

The newworldbank.com springs from a world whose population is quickly grouping itself into urban regions – regions in which the need for clever solutions is growing increasingly urgent, so that everyone who moves to the cities can have a roof over their head. So that housing is built in more intelligent and environmentally friendly ways.

So that segregation and increased social differences are avoided.

So that interaction is created between technology, the environment and urban development.

So that the world is made cleverer – by using the knowledge that actually already exists. And by making that knowledge visible.

What is the really big transformation in today's global society?

It is not globalization. It is not the internet. It is the fact we humans are moving to cities. The world is quickly becoming urban. What happens when the world becomes urbanized? And how does this affect the people who live, and don't live, in the growing urban areas?

There is a great need for smart solutions to build a better future. Ideas such as:

- how to build smarter, cheaper and more sustainable.

- how to provide food and water for all of us, through urban farming and recycling.

- how to build transport systems and infrastructure in a smarter way

- how to develop smart social solutions and integration

- how to deal with pollution and waste

And the thing is: many smart solutions are already all around us. You, or somebody on the other side of the world, could be holding on to ideas that just need to become visible. So that they can be developed, transformed and brought into use. thenewworldbank.com is the tool and platform where this will happen. The ideas are out there. Architects, social scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs... people that work by themselves or in large corporations, institutions and at universities. They all have smart solutions to problems that need to be solved. thenewworldbank is their new platform and tool. This is where ideas become public. To be developed in dialogue with others, to become even smarter.

thenewworldbank.com – what will it be?

thenewworldbank.com will be an internet tool combined with meetings, seminars and projects all around the world. thenewworldbank.com aims to help companies donate to the public, solutions and ideas that are normally locked in corporate ownership. thenewworldbank.com aims to host open source projects with the purpose of developing new solutions to urban challenges. thenewworldbank.com aims to bring social entrepreneurs together and in contact with needs and solutions.

The Internet platform:

a wiki for solutions
a social utility for social entrepreneurs
a project tool for public solution development
a news channel for urban solutions
translation to world languages

The institute

thenewworldbank.com will be an independent foundation and institute that will continue to develop the platform but also to assemble knowledge through guest researchers, arrange conferences, seminars, produce books and much more.

thenewworldbank.com – what will happen?

- meetings, seminars and projects:
- conferences for urban challenges
- seminars for social entrepreneurs in urban regions
- development camps for open source projects

thenewworldbank.com will be launched with the conference, meeting and talk on 2-3 April in Östersund 2008.That's when the new world bank will be set up. The guidelines will be drawn up. Some of the most interesting minds around will assemble to tell, talk, and develop the ideas, needs, solutions and structure.

thenewworldbank.com-concept is developed by Färgfabriken after an initial idea by Veronika Valk, architect from Estonia. It has then been discussed in dialogue with Veronika Valk, with Kohei Nishiyama from CUUSOO, with Kjell A Nordström from Funky Business, with Michael Daun and many more.