Current Global Crisis Research Articles

Endogenous Environmental Conservation Awareness in Sangu Oral Tales

African culture is a rich reservoir of varying degrees of information. It encompasses unique knowledge originating from within Africa, which is reflected in its people’s traditions and customs. This knowledge engrafts and provides solutions to a myriad of problems. Among others, it provides solutions to compelling environmental challenges like land degradation, water and air pollution, global warming and climate change. This paper presents a textual analysis of five (5) Sangu oral tales that represent ecological knowledge and practices of the Sangu people. This is done as a way to unriddle the ongoing environmental enigma in the Usangu plain, and the world at large. The tales under scrutiny are: Umutwa na Avatambule Vaakwe (‘The Chief and His Sub-chiefs’); iNjokha wiita Nguluvi (‘Snakes like God’); Munego (‘A Trap’); iJungwa Sikhandi Vaanu (‘Elephants Were Once Human Beings’); and Amagulu ga Nguluvi (‘The Feet of God’). A total of twenty (20) tales were collected qualitatively through one-on-one in-depth interviews with Sangu storytellers; and then through content analysis method: all of which found the five aforementioned tales fit for the subject matter. The results show that the telling of the oral stories is not just an occasion but also a display of skills and knowledge of a particular people, and that the solutions to the current global environmental crisis lie in people’s traditions as expressed in their environment-related oral narratives.

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God: The Investigation of Current Environmental Degradation

Literature in relation to the natural world and the environment is the subject of ecocriticism. The current global environmental crisis has made it urgent to examine literature from an ecological point of view. By examining the ways in which the natural world and the environment are portrayed in literature, ecocriticism seeks to identify a method to improve the current ecological predicament. The fusion of ecocriticism with postcolonialism has given new life to critical thought overall, providing fresh perspectives on concepts like race, land, environment, wildness, etc. The two African novels, Things Fall Apart (1958) and Arrow of God (1965) chosen for the examination haven't often been studied from an ecocritical angle, but the current paper has attempted to look at how nature and the environment are portrayed in them. This analysis aims to show that, despite pre-colonial African societies being unaffected by nature, colonialism opened the door for its exploitation while neglecting or demeaning the profound values that nature and the environment had for pre-colonial Africans.

Anxiety, burnout, and the Perception of stress among healthcare workers of Orissa, India during the Covid 19- pandemic: Can yoga be an effective tool?

The current global healthcare crisis can be regarded as the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic afflicting the twenty-first century's population. Aside from the high transmission rates, no proven medication, the widespread ambiguity surrounding this pandemic has also been a major challenge for HCWs. They feel obligated to respond to the call to help people, but are paralyzed by the fear that they will contract a disease while assisting others. COVID-19 has imposed pressures on healthcare professionals who are already at a high risk of burnout. This contradiction has led to psychological suffering, such as depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances, among Health care Worker. Recent studies have shown that yoga practice makes a big difference in how healthcare professionals feel about their own accomplishments, depression, anxiety, stress, perceived resilience, and compassion. Health Care Workers in Orissa, India, working at a covid hospital, were the subjects of a before-and-after yoga intervention study designed to gauge the impact of the practice on their levels of burnout due to their own lives, nature of their job, and their patients. The results of this study indicate that yoga can be an effective factor for resilience to stress and help healthcare workers cope with burnout, stress, and anxiety. Keywords: Anxiety, Burnout, Yoga.

Russia in the Context of the Global Crisis

The article examines the features of the current situation in the world and the existing threats to Russia in its confrontation with the collective West. It is shown that the current global crisis is caused by the change of historical epochs and the transformation of the world system into a qualitatively new state. The old patterns stop working, it’s time to design the future. In these conditions, Russia has a chance to propose its own world order project and become one of the leaders in the new historical reality. But this requires a purposeful and wise policy.Aim. The aim of this article is to analyze the current situation in the world and substantiate Russia’s policy in the current conditions.Tasks. During the research, the following tasks were solved: modeling and forecasting world dynamics in the 21st century, identifying global trends, analyzing the features of the current crisis situation; analysis of the modern confrontation between the collective West and Russia; analysis of the tasks that Russia faces in the short, medium and long term, and justification of ways to solve them.Methods. The methodology for solving these problems is based on the identification of patterns of historical development using modern methods of modeling and forecasting world dynamics, developed at Lomonosov Moscow State University under the guidance of Academician V. A. Sadovnichy.Results. The results of mathematical modeling have shown that humanity is currently moving to a fundamentally new phase of historical development, when the old economic and social technologies (liberal capitalism, classical socialism) no longer work. There is a transition of human society into a new phase state, the shape of which has not yet been determined. In these conditions, we are not talking about forecasting, but about designing the future in new historical conditions. The struggle of world projects begins. Russia’s strategy should be formed on the basis of understanding the specifics of the current situation.Conclusions. The current global crisis creates serious threats to Russia’s development, exacerbates the pressure on it from the collective West. However, at the same time, new opportunities are opening up for Russia: it gets a chance to propose its own world order project and become one of the leaders in the new historical reality. To realize this chance, a purposeful and wise policy is needed. The article suggests a number of measures to implement this policy.

Incorporando la bioética ambiental a los cuidados materno perinatales para disminuir los riesgos de la Pan-Sindemia en el proceso reproductivo.

Until now, the bioethical approach to maternal perinatal care is projected from the integral vision of bio-psycho-social health, the perspective of Human Rights and the gender perspective. In general, the ecological bioethics that arises from the perspective of environmental health has not been incorporated into maternal-perinatal care with regard to “global ethics”, environmental bioethics, the perspective of “consilience” and the importance of the healthy environment as a human right. The current global crisis situation due to the combination of the COVID 19 Pandemic and the Global Syndemic, characterized as Pan Syndemic, increases the risks and damages in the reproductive process, especially in populations violated in their rights. JUSTIFICATION It is necessary to minimize the effect of the Pan Syndemic on the human reproductive process. On the global agenda, humanity must reverse the causes of the Pan Syndemic. Meanwhile, health professionals and teams must reformulate their role when it comes to maternal-perinatal care, incorporating into the clinic the right to a healthy environment for reproduction. PERSPECTIVES Modifications in the clinical practice of sexual and reproductive health teams should be aimed at: incorporate ecological bioethics into maternal perinatal care from training to clinical practice; develop a comprehensive approach to major perinatal obstetric syndromes, prematurity and fetal growth restriction, to minimize the impact of the Pan Syndemic on the human reproductive process.

The Post-COVID-19 Era, Fourth Industrial Revolution, and New Globalization: Restructured Labor Relations and Organizational Adaptation

This paper explores the directions of adaptation for socioeconomic organizations in the current global crisis and restructuring. We carry out an integrative and critical review, presenting the main questions—and possible directions of response—concerning how the post-COVID-19 era, the fourth industrial revolution, and new globalization seem to affect contemporary labor relations. We focus on the different levels of their manifestation (macro, meso, and micro levels), emphasizing worsening inequality trends in the work environment and the resulting organizational readaptation that seems to be required nowadays. The restructured labor markets can benefit from the diffusion of institutional innovations based on integrated social partnership schemes at the macro–meso–micro levels. We emphasize organizational adaptation at the microlevel, as the innovation and change management mechanisms it enables, presupposes, and harnesses are imperative for exiting any crisis.

The moral teacher in global transition: The 2022 Kohlberg Memorial Lecture

ABSTRACT According to Kohlberg, a moral teacher is an independent moral agent capable of addressing moral dilemmas based on general principles of justice. In addition to moral reasoning, teachers require competencies in moral sensitivity, moral motivation, and the implementation of morality. In the current period of global transition, moral sensitivity in teaching is particularly emphasized along with the skills to identify culture-invariant and culture-dependent moral factors. In this lecture, the role of the moral teacher is explored in the context of current global crises and everyday moral dilemmas in teaching. Purposefulness and professional ethics are identified as important assets for a moral teacher during the current global transition.

The lockdown generation: Facing multiple crises in education and the labour market

The aim of this article is to analyse the impact of both the latest education system reforms in Poland and the COVID-19 pandemic on the educational trajectories and the labour market situation of vulnerable youth. 
 To fully grasp the complexity of the current circumstances we start with a review of research on the so-called “lockdown generation”, i.e. young people who, as a result of the pandemic, have had their participation in education and vocational training hindered for a long time due to political decisions on school closures and online education. These analyses are complemented by individual interviews with relevant stakeholders. 
 The results of the analyses conducted so far show the disturbing effects of the current political changes and global crises on the trajectories and labour market entry of groups that are habitually considered as the most at risk of educational exclusion. 
 We discuss the greatest barriers and new inequalities created by the current accumulation of adverse external contextual factors and pre-existing risk factors at the individual and meso levels, as well as possible systemic measures of support for young people.

Effects of COVID-19 on Sustainability of Residential Spaces and Communities

The effect of the pandemic on residential spaces and communities is a popular topic around the world. And some researchers found out that sustainable development in the living spaces is also affected, while the extent and the specific changes still lack explanation. Therefore, the theme of this article is to explore and assess the effects of COVID-19 on sustainability in residential spaces and communities. In order to get the result, the data were collected from questionnaires mainly from Jiangxi and Guangdong. After that, seven different interviews were conducted with different groups of people in these two places. Finally, these two sets of data were compared and analyzed and it can be found that the public now has more enormous expectations of the usage of existing resources and that they have made some changes simultaneously in order to respond to the current situation. Therefore, on the basis of people's expectations, the following suggestion is proposed to further improve their quality of life, including public parks, garbage classification, delivery lockers with monitors or purifiers, temporary buffering areas, multi-function areas, and entertainment areas. The purpose of previous suggestions is to hope that people can get relevant inspiration through these points, so as to better coy with the current global crisis.

Unlocking the eHealth professionals’ career pathways: A case of Gulf Cooperation Council countries

Unlocking the eHealth professionals’ career pathways: A case of Gulf Cooperation Council countries

Digitalization of public diplomacy: Concepts, trends, and challenges

Dr. Ilan Manor is a leading scholar in the digitalization of public diplomacy and a senior lecturer at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev. From the beginning of his academic career, Dr. Manor invested in researching the digitalized practices and strategies of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and conceptualized the expression “the digitalization of public diplomacy” to explore how digital technologies shape the norms, values, and working routines of diplomats and diplomatic institutions. Based on the hypothesis of transparency as the core of social media technology, Dr. Manor mentioned that diplomacy has also had to become more open, especially in public diplomacy. Traditional secret diplomatic negotiations are under universal scrutiny by netizens because they are digitalized. Thus, the public wants diplomats to be more open and transparent in their professional activities. However, digitalization also brought a series of communication problems, especially in the time of geopolitical uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. In the academic dialogue, Dr. Manor has analyzed the conceptualization, practices, and challenges of the digitalization of public diplomacy in the framework of the current geopolitical context and global crisis and reviewed the long-term conceptual debate in public diplomacy scholarship on the value of soft power in the digital age. The last part of this dialogue focused on using visual supports in the international communication arena, criticizing the omnipresent use of memes and gifs of the Russian and Ukrainian governments during the war and questioning the public(s) in the digitalization of public diplomacy.

Humboldt's legacy: explaining the influence of environmental factors on the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of angiosperms along a Neotropical elevational gradient.

The scientific work of Alexander von Humboldt was influenced by his interaction with the diversity and natural wealth of the Neotropics. He proposed that climate determines plant diversity along elevational gradients based on his observations. Here, we evaluated the most prominent climate-based hypotheses in explaining plant diversity along an elevational gradient that Humboldt himself visited during his journey across Mexico. Specifically, we examined how climatic variables and forest-use intensity affected species richness and phylogenetic structure of major angiosperm life forms (trees, shrubs, epiphytes, herbs and lianas) along the Cofre de Perote mountain, Veracruz, Mexico. We analysed species richness and phylogenetic structure of angiosperms at eight sites between 30 to 3500 m a.s.l. We estimated the phylogenetic structure using a mega-phylogeny of angiosperms and the abundance-weighted net relatedness index. We considered multiple environmental factors' direct and indirect effects by applying a piecewise structural equation modelling approach. Each life form responds differently to the environmental variables included in our model; however, it is observed that temperature is the main predictor of the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of the angiosperms studied, both when the different life forms are grouped and separated. Potential evapotranspiration and precipitation are variables that also influence some life forms' diversity, especially taxonomic diversity. The forest-use intensity negatively affected only the taxonomic diversity of trees. These results highlight the influence of studying the different life forms of angiosperms in diversity gradient models and show the great influence that temperature has in conjunction with other environmental variables to promote the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of plant communities. Given the current global environmental crisis, an integrative biogeographically oriented vision based on Humboldt's method is necessary. Honouring the work of Humboldt and continuing his legacy demands more research to understand the causes behind elevational diversity gradients.

Perspectives of education and mental health professionals on adolescent school-based mental health promotion: a qualitative exploration

BackgroundInterdisciplinary interventions for school-based mental health promotion (SBMHP) for adolescents (10–19 years old) provide a unique opportunity to address the urgent mental health needs across this population. EspaiJove.net, a SBMHP programme, has delivered mental health workshops to over 24118 adolescents in Barcelona, Spain, since 2012. This study aimed to explore the perspectives from professionals involved in EspaiJove.net regarding the needs, challenges, and opportunities for adolescent SBMHP, to guide future interventions. MethodsFollowing an interpretivist approach rooted in social constructionism, semi-structured online interviews were conducted with six mental health professionals and five education professionals recruited through purposeful sampling from four schools participating in EspaiJove.net in Barcelona, Spain. Data collection was done between November and December, 2021. An interview guide and ongoing researcher reflexivity contributed to attaining data saturation. Bracketing, member checking, and debriefing were used to ensure rigour. Data were analysed through thematic content analysis. The University of Liverpool's Ethics Committee approved this study. FindingsData showed that: (1) there is a shared understanding among education and mental health professionals towards mental health and its promotion; (2) there is an urgent need for adolescent mental health promotion; and (3) participants' perceived roles and responsibilities in SBMHP varied, but favourable views towards the implementation of SBMHP were unanimous. There was perceived urgency towards adolescent mental health promotion, partly attributed to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The link established between schools and mental health centres through EspaiJove.net fostered an interdisciplinary collaboration that spanned well beyond the intervention. The major challenge affecting the feasibility of SBMHP unanimously described was the scarcity of resources and political will to invest in mental health promotion. InterpretationPerspectives arising from EspaiJove.net reveal favourable views towards SBMHP among participants. Although limited by size, the consistency of the findings add strength to the study. Given the similarities between the UK and Spain's Education and Health Systems, these findings could contribute to the advancement of SBMHP in the UK. Despite current challenges, such as the scarcity of resources and political will identified in this study, capitalising on schools as health-promoting assets and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration through SBMHP could be a cost-effective way to address the current global mental health crisis. FundingNone.

The Intention to Use Telemedicine by Surgical Patients in Response to COVID-19

Objective: This study explored patients’ intention to use telemedicine instead of traveling to a hospital during the current global COVID-19 crisis. The framework focused on the relationships between variables derived from the technology acceptance model and the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model.Materials and Methods: Multistage sampling procedures were applied to recruit samples using nonprobability sampling methods. Adult patients who had undergone surgery at a university hospital participated; all were experienced in using online meeting applications and online payment services in their daily lives. Consent forms and online questionnaires were distributed via a Google Forms link.Results: Between October and December 2021, 502 patients undergoing procedures participated in the study. Five variables—social influence, trust, price, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use—significantly impacted intention to use. Perceived ease of use significantly impacted perceived usefulness, with a value of 0.679***. In addition, perceived ease of use indirectly influenced intention to use (impact value, 0.103***). Performance expectancy did not significantly impact intention to use, with an impact value of -0.012.Conclusion: The contributions of this study will enable developers, medical professionals, and marketers to improve telemedicine services to better satisfy patients undergoing surgery and increase their intention to use telemedicine. However, the performance expectancy aspect may not warrant patients’ intention. Additionally, the research is recommended on other potential variables influencing telemedicine utilization, such as psychological expectations, performance expectations, and technical conditions.

Spaces of Refuge: The Clinical Practice of Félix Guattari and Institutional Psychotherapy

Guattari’s prescient final text, Chaosmosis, argues that the conditions of Capital responsible for the current social-psychic-ecological crisis of migration demand modes of analysis capable of grasping their complexity, ones grounded in the ethico-aesthetic. It is a text that draws directly from the therapeutic practice that he, Tosquelles, Oury, and others in the Institutional Psychotherapy (IP) movement developed in their clinics. This work entailed the inclusion of aesthetic practices that work to deterritorialise the institution, shifting from carceral sites and creating therapeutic spaces of care and refuge. This article explores the centrality of an ethico-aesthetic approach to the understanding of therapeutic space within the sites and clinical practice of Institutional Psychotherapy. Looking especially at daily life and the inclusion of aesthetic practice, it examines the particular notion of asylum that emerged in these sites that so informed the clinical and critical work of Guattari and Deleuze, and draws connections to the current global crisis of migration in the necessity of such sites to the forced segregation between those deemed mad and sane.

Synthetic Studies towards the Calcium-Dependent Lipopeptide Antibiotic Cadaside B.

In the current global crisis of antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial peptides represent a promising source of alternative antibiotics. Recently discovered cadaside B, a novel calcium-dependent antibiotic, exhibits potent antimicrobial activity towards Gram-positive pathogens including multi-drug resistant strains. These properties, coupled with a novel structure, non-cytotoxicity, and low likelihood of developing resistance render cadaside B an important synthetic target. Herein, a synthetic strategy towards cadaside B is reported with the key steps involving on-resin depsipeptide bond formation and solution-phase macrolactamization. Good agreement of the synthetic cadaside B MS/MS fragmentation pattern was observed with the natural product, but a different 1 H NMR spectrum and absence of antimicrobial activity suggest an undetected epimerization event took place during the synthesis. Herein the findings of our synthetic journey and suggestions for future directions are presented.

Biodiversity management approaches in small and innovative businesses: insights from a systems thinking perspective

PurposeAmid the current global crisis, biodiversity remains a topic that is often relegated to a few disciplines. Many issues related to the relationship between organizations and the ecosystem remain unexplored. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the characteristics of the interrelationship between these two complex and dynamic systems.Design/methodology/approachThis research is conducted using a constructivist approach, with an interpretivist perspective and a case study methodology. Through this research perspective and an exploratory multiple case study (holistic), the authors assess the implications related to the concept of biodiversity and the impacts that organizational choices could have on the consideration and management of this complex concept.FindingsThe desire of these entrepreneurs to change their ways of doing things and try to produce in a way that respects the ecosystem and enhances natural genetic diversity, while simultaneously drawing value from it in a healthy and sustainable manner, is evident. The orientation toward a sustainable and ecologically innovative business brings the concept of profit into the background on several occasions, leading these bakery entrepreneurs to be visionary green entrepreneurs (or ecopreneurs). The desire to be sustainable and to change the ways of “business as usual” makes these companies and their entrepreneurs an example of “sustainability-as-flourishing.”Originality/valueBy adopting the systems thinking approach and multiple case studies, this study examines the interrelation between some innovative small companies (bakeries) and biodiversity, their motivations to actively engage in biodiversity protection and their roles in protecting agrobiodiversity as well as the natural wealth of the ecosystem.

A Wave-Driven Piezoelectrical Film for Interfacial Steam Generation: Beyond the Limitation of Hydrogel.

Solar interfacial vapor generation based on low evaporation energy requirements is an effective technology to speed up water purification under natural sunlight, offering great potential to alleviate the current global water crisis. The external electric field and hydrogel are two independent methods enabling low-energy water evaporation. However, the complicated external equipment for generating an electric field and the restricted activation area of hydrogels significantly limit their practical application in steam generation. Thus, a piezoelectric fiber membrane is embedded into a highly hydratable light-absorbing poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel for synergistic water activation. The integrated evaporator is capable of continuously converting the wave energy reserved in the ocean into electrical energy, activating the water in the hydrogel. It is found that the activation effect leads to an improvement of over 23% compared to a non-piezoelectric hydrogel evaporator. This work provides an evaporation prototype based on the synergistic water activation of wave-triggered electricity and highly hydratable hydrogel.

Molecular Dynamics Study of Adsorption Phenomenon of Aromatic Hydrocarbon Ionomer in Catalytic Layer of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell

In response to the current global energy crisis and environmental problems, fuel cells are an optional solution. Among them, polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) has high expectations because of its low operating temperature and suitability for applications in households and mobility devices. Since PEFC requires the use of proton exchange membranes, the transmission efficiency and durability of the exchange membrane is a major concern. To improve the proton transport efficiency, which is generally required, a catalytic layer is integrated into the PEFC. The catalyst layer of PEFC generally contains platinum catalyst covered with the ionomer membrane. Proton conductivity increases with ionomer thickness, while oxygen permeability decreases with ionomer thickness. Therefore, in order to improve the power generation efficiency of PEFC, it is important to design the catalyst layer. In addition, the fluorinated ionomer membrane material (such as Nafion) used for PEFC has good proton conductivity and chemical stability, but the synthesis cost is relatively high. As a consequence, new materials such as composite materials and non-fluorine-based materials have received a lot of attention in recent years. In this study, we focus on a new ionomer material of aromatic hydrocarbon (named SPP-BP) and elucidate the adsorption state of the ionomer on the platinum surface on a nanoscale using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Then, the structural properties and water diffusion characteristics of the ionomers of new material (SPP-BP) and conventional Nafion were analyzed based on the MD simulation results.The degree of polymerization (m, p, s) of the monomers were given as 20, 5, and 23 (molecular weight 7.38 kDa), respectively, based on the reported experimental values of SPP-BP. For the polymer composition, molecular models of a random type (r-type), which shows a randomness of monomers, were used. A molecular model of Nafion was also created as the conventional fluorinated membrane materials for comparison with the SPP-BP. The platinum surface was built with a three layers of platinum atoms in a face-centered cubic lattice structure. Regarding the calculation potentials, the DREIDING forcefield was used for the interactions with the molecules. While for the intermolecular potential, the Spohr potential was used for Pt-H2O and Pt-H3O+ interactions, and the others were applied with the Lennard Jones (LJ). The parameters of those potentials were based on the previous studies.In the ionomer membrane, water content is an important indicator that affects the transfer of protons and substances. Based on the water absorption results obtained in the experiment, the water content of SPP-BP was calculated to be between 1.8 and 7.2. Therefore, the water content during the MD simulation was used 3, 5, and 7. The computational size was 55.5 Å × 52.9 Å in the transverse direction of the ionomer membrane (X and Y directions), and the thickness of the membrane adsorbed on the platinum surface was about 50-60 Å. A vacuum region of about 40 Å was set at the top of the system. To calculate the diffusion coefficient and the cluster character of water, multiple simulations with different initial structure were considered. Furthermore, in order to compare to the Nafion, the number of polymers and the computational size was adjusted for containing the same water content.Based on the simulation results, the density distribution of water, hydrophilic sulfo groups, and main body of polymer was analyzed. By the analysis of density distribution, the structure of the ionomer at the interface-vacuum, near the Pt surface and inside was studied. In addition, the orientation of the sulfo group of SPP-BP and Nafion near the Pt surface was analyzed. Besides, the water cluster characteristics and water diffusion properties of the ionomers of SPP-BP and Nafion were also investigated.Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan through the fund for ECCEED'30 Projects (No. JPNP20003). Numerical simulations were performed on the Supercomputer system "AFI-NITY" at the Advanced Fluid Information Research Center, Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University.

Design and Responsible Innovation. Ethics and Caring as Keys to Addressing Contemporary Crises

Current global crises have generated profound environmental, social and economic instability, exacerbating the so-called “North–South divide”. To cope with increasing uncertainty and complexity, design has faced profound structural changes and reviewed its approaches. Design has come to the Responsible Innovation concept to define perspectives on how to develop products and services with a positive impact and create new forms of individual and collective knowledge. Based on ethical values of caring, Responsible Design focuses on ideas and practices that enable designers to address complex eco-socio-political wicked problems. At the intersection between Responsible Innovation and design cultures and practices, several examples of local and global initiatives can be identified. To better understand the state of the art and envision possible developments of Responsible Design, a selection of case studies was analysed, and action research was carried out. Thus, two perspectives emerge: 1) Design for Responsible Innovation; 2) and Responsible Innovation applied to Design. In both views, design becomes ethically responsible, empowering people to take care of themselves, their communities and the environment.