Distinguished guests from all over the world attended the launch, from a US government official coming all the way from Washington to an Israeli/Hungarian civil engineer. The general comment was that the project promises to be one of the milestones in Prof. de Bono’s already remarkable career.

The centre is housed in the recently restored Villa Bighi in Kalkara and will also have two representative offices in Belgium and London.

Surely it does not fall short on ambition. Prof. de Bono introduced the project saying that, “the centre will serve as a platform where new ideas are generated and made visible to the world.”

The rationale behind the centre follows Prof. de Bono’s creative thinking work. He gave a short presentation on the concept of lateral thinking, stressing the need for it to complement traditional forms of thinking.

Traditional patterns of thinking, he said, are based on recognising standard patterns and situations and reacting to those patterns by providing standard answers. Such thinking, Prof. de Bono stressed, has served us well in science and technology but not in human affairs.

Delivering the inaugural speech, Education, Youth and Employment Minister Louis Galea said that government is supporting the initiative of the De Bono Foundation as it feels that the centre could be Malta’s contribution to the European Union and the world.

Dr Galea thanked Prof. De Bono for his contribution towards the centre and the country, saying that he could have easily decided to base the centre elsewhere. The government is linking the work of the World Centre for New Thinking to that of the Malta Council for Science and Technology, chaired by Mr Peter Diacono.

The centre will promote new ideas, not only those generated at the centre but also those coming from any other source. In this connection, a pamphlet giving an abstract of the centre’s functions and aims, argues that representative bodies like the UN or any other democracy have a hard time putting forward new ideas because by definition, new ideas are not representative. They are perceived to be high-risk and subjective. Through the centre, new ideas will be made known without responsibility and risk.

Among the concrete proposals are plans for round table discussions to generate ideas on designated issues that may include in the near future the “immigrants issue”.

Training in creative methods, as well as creative facilitation, will also be provided, as required. Above all, the centre will emphasise the power of possibilities and the importance of new ideas.

The centre has places for 50 Foundation Members who will have access to all meetings and other privileges. This membership is open to nations, corporations and other organisations.