Knowledge Centers Powered by the Academy Approach
Knowledge Centers are global and/or regional and thematic hubs that apply the Academy approach to turn knowledge into action. By connecting global expertise with local priorities, they help countries adapt, adopt, and scale proven solutions through practical learning, peer exchange, technical support, and implementation-focused partnerships
The Vienna Development Knowledge Center (VDKC) is a multisectoral platform for knowledge exchange, peer learning, and collaboration among policymakers and practitioners across Europe and Central Asia (ECA). It aims to strengthen the impact of development knowledge in addressing the region’s development challenges.
The Center operates through a collaborative model that draws on the operational engagement of World Bank Group (WBG) teams and their development partners from public, private, and academic institutions. This partnership based approach ensures that knowledge activities are grounded in real world operational insights and aligned with the emerging priorities of countries across ECA.
The China–WBG Global Center for Ecological Systems and Transitions (CWGC) is a partnership between the Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China and the World Bank Group (WBG).
Launched in December 2024, the CWGC capitalizes China’s unique development experience, especially in ecosystem restoration, and leverages growing global knowledge including World Bank Group’s expertise and global networks, bringing together stakeholders from around the world to exchange ideas, experience, and best practices, all the while promoting the creation of new knowledge.
The WBG–Saudi Arabia Global Knowledge Hub (K-Hub) is a global hub established through an partnership agreement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the World Bank Group to drive the exchange of evidence-based policy and best practices on the world's most pressing development challenges.
Anchored in the themes of competitiveness and economic diversification, the K-Hub aims to translate development knowledge into reform action across regions by facilitating inbound and outbound knowledge transfer, generating policy research, and accelerating the adoption of policy solutions tailored to countries' reform priorities. It brings together the World Bank Group's global development expertise and Saudi Arabia's firsthand reform experience to generate knowledge that is both practical and transferable to other country contexts.