Innovation, Ethics and our Common Futures

Innovation, Ethics and our Common Futures
Author: Rafael Ziegler
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2020-06-26
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1789904544

The important yet contradictory role of innovation in society calls for a philosophy of innovation. Critically exploring innovation in relation to values, the economy and social change, Rafael Ziegler proposes a collaborative theory and practice of innovation that aims to liberate possibilities for our common futures.

Liberty and the Ecological Crisis

Liberty and the Ecological Crisis
Author: Katie Kish
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2019-11-27
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1000765695

This book examines the concept of liberty in relation to civilization’s ability to live within ecological limits. Freedom, in all its renditions – choice, thought, action – has become inextricably linked to our understanding of what it means to be modern citizens. And yet, it is our relatively unbounded freedom that has resulted in so much ecological devastation. Liberty has piggy-backed on transformations in human–nature relationships that characterize the Anthropocene: increasing extraction of resources, industrialization, technological development, ecological destruction, and mass production linked to global consumerism. This volume provides a deeply critical examination of the concept of liberty as it relates to environmental politics and ethics in the long view. Contributions explore this entanglement of freedom and the ecological crisis, as well as investigate alternative modernities and more ecologically benign ways of living on Earth. The overarching framework for this collection is that liberty and agency need to be rethought before these strongly held ideals of our age are forced out. On a finite planet, our choices will become limited if we hope to survive the climatic transitions set in motion by uncontrolled consumption of resources and energy over the past 150 years. This volume suggests concrete political and philosophical approaches and governance strategies for learning how to flourish in new ways within the ecological constraints of the planet. Mapping out new ways forward for long-term ecological well-being, this book is essential reading for students and scholars of ecology, environmental ethics, politics, and sociology, and for the wider audience interested in the human–Earth relationship and global sustainability.

A Research Agenda for Social Innovation

A Research Agenda for Social Innovation
Author: Howaldt, Ju_rgen
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2021-11-12
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 178990935X

This insightful Research Agenda offers unique perspectives into the different strands of social innovation research, covering the history and theory of this ever-growing research field. Chapters show the range and depth of the social advances that characterize this vibrant and contested subject, and analyse the strong increase in political and public interest in social innovation.

Encyclopedia of Social Innovation

Encyclopedia of Social Innovation
Author: Jürgen Howaldt
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 499
Release: 2023-10-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 180037335X

This invaluable Encyclopedia presents an interdisciplinary and comprehensive overview of the field of social innovation, providing an insightful view into potential future developments both practically and theoretically. This title contains one or more Open Access chapters.

Making CO2 a Resource

Making CO2 a Resource
Author: Øyvind Stokke
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2024-06-03
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1040032486

This interdisciplinary book explores how CO2 can become a resource instead of a waste and, as such, be a tool to meet one of the grandest challenges humanity is facing: climate change. Drawing on a Norwegian narrative that has significance for a global audience, Øyvind Stokke and Elin Oftedal introduce in-depth, multi-perspective analyses of a sustainable innovation research experiment in industrial carbon capture and utilisation technologies. Building on extensive literature within marine sciences, sustainability research, and environmental philosophy and ethics, this book documents how a misplaced resource like CO2 can become valuable within a circular economy in its own right, while at the same time meeting the challenge of food security in a world where food production is increasingly under pressure. The book is diverse in scope and includes chapters on how to reduce the environmental footprint of aquaculture by replacing wild fish and soy from the Amazon, how to optimise the monitoring of aquatic environments via smart technologies, and how to replace materials otherwise sourced from natural environments. The authors also analyse the pivotal role of the university in driving innovation and entrepreneurship, the pitfalls of different carbon technologies, and explore how the link between petroleum dependence and CO2 emissions has been addressed in Norway specifically. Making CO2 a Resource will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, environmental ethics, environmental philosophy, sustainable business and innovation, and sustainable development more broadly.

The Future of Innovation and Technology in Education

The Future of Innovation and Technology in Education
Author: Anna Visvizi
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2018-11-30
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1787565564

This book explores the effective use of information and communication technology (ICT) in teaching and learning. Concept-laden and practice-driven discussions offer insights into the art and practice of employing virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), electronic devices, social networks and massive open online courses (MOOCs) in education.

Transitioning to Sustainable Life on Land

Transitioning to Sustainable Life on Land
Author: Volker Beckmann
Publisher: MDPI
Total Pages: 478
Release: 2021-11-18
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3038978787

Sustainable Life on Land, the fifteenth UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 15), calls for the protection, restoration and promotion of the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems. Among others, it requires societies to sustainably manage forests, halt and reverse land degradation, combat desertification, and halt biodiversity loss. Despite the fact that protection of terrestrial ecosystems is on the rise worldwide and forest loss has slowed, the recent IPBES report concluded that “nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history”. Consequently, the United Nations General Assembly recently declared 2021–2030 the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. There is no doubt that the current global responses are far from sufficient and significant transformative changes of societies are needed to restore and protect nature and ecosystems. Transitioning to Sustainable Life on Land presents reviews, original research, and practical experiences from different disciplines with a focus on: theoretical and empirical reflection about the necessary transformation of values, institutions, markets, firms and policies, reviews and research on protection, restoration and sustainable use of diverse terrestrial ecosystems, analyses and reporting of encouraging local, regional, national, and global initiatives. Transitioning to Sustainable Life on Land is part of MDPI's new Open Access book series Transitioning to Sustainability. With this series, MDPI pursues environmentally and socially relevant research which contributes to efforts toward a sustainable world. Transitioning to Sustainability aims to add to the conversation about regional and global sustainable development according to the 17 SDGs. The book series is intended to reach beyond disciplinary, even academic boundaries.

The Ethics of Invention: Technology and the Human Future

The Ethics of Invention: Technology and the Human Future
Author: Sheila Jasanoff
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2016-08-30
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0393253856

We live in a world increasingly governed by technology—but to what end? Technology rules us as much as laws do. It shapes the legal, social, and ethical environments in which we act. Every time we cross a street, drive a car, or go to the doctor, we submit to the silent power of technology. Yet, much of the time, the influence of technology on our lives goes unchallenged by citizens and our elected representatives. In The Ethics of Invention, renowned scholar Sheila Jasanoff dissects the ways in which we delegate power to technological systems and asks how we might regain control. Our embrace of novel technological pathways, Jasanoff shows, leads to a complex interplay among technology, ethics, and human rights. Inventions like pesticides or GMOs can reduce hunger but can also cause unexpected harm to people and the environment. Often, as in the case of CFCs creating a hole in the ozone layer, it takes decades before we even realize that any damage has been done. Advances in biotechnology, from GMOs to gene editing, have given us tools to tinker with life itself, leading some to worry that human dignity and even human nature are under threat. But despite many reasons for caution, we continue to march heedlessly into ethically troubled waters. As Jasanoff ranges across these and other themes, she challenges the common assumption that technology is an apolitical and amoral force. Technology, she masterfully demonstrates, can warp the meaning of democracy and citizenship unless we carefully consider how to direct its power rather than let ourselves be shaped by it. The Ethics of Invention makes a bold argument for a future in which societies work together—in open, democratic dialogue—to debate not only the perils but even more the promises of technology.

Responsible Innovation

Responsible Innovation
Author: Richard Owen
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2013-03-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1118551400

Science and innovation have the power to transform our lives and the world we live in - for better or worse – in ways that often transcend borders and generations: from the innovation of complex financial products that played such an important role in the recent financial crisis to current proposals to intentionally engineer our Earth’s climate. The promise of science and innovation brings with it ethical dilemmas and impacts which are often uncertain and unpredictable: it is often only once these have emerged that we feel able to control them. How do we undertake science and innovation responsibly under such conditions, towards not only socially acceptable, but socially desirable goals and in a way that is democratic, equitable and sustainable? Responsible innovation challenges us all to think about our responsibilities for the future, as scientists, innovators and citizens, and to act upon these. This book begins with a description of the current landscape of innovation and in subsequent chapters offers perspectives on the emerging concept of responsible innovation and its historical foundations, including key elements of a responsible innovation approach and examples of practical implementation. Written in a constructive and accessible way, Responsible Innovation includes chapters on: Innovation and its management in the 21st century A vision and framework for responsible innovation Concepts of future-oriented responsibility as an underpinning philosophy Values – sensitive design Key themes of anticipation, reflection, deliberation and responsiveness Multi – level governance and regulation Perspectives on responsible innovation in finance, ICT, geoengineering and nanotechnology Essentially multidisciplinary in nature, this landmark text combines research from the fields of science and technology studies, philosophy, innovation governance, business studies and beyond to address the question, “How do we ensure the responsible emergence of science and innovation in society?”

Innovation Ethics

Innovation Ethics
Author: Roger Hunt
Publisher: Ethics International Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2024-02-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 187189154X

While entrepreneurship characterizes an ideal form of self-sufficiency, in practice entrepreneurs find themselves subject to a complex network of support systems, which in effect exploit their talents, resources, and passion for structural risk mitigation. This dynamic infrastructure composed of founders, investors, and service providers is not a necessary institution, but rather the result of intersectional incentive structures managed by the professionalization of a process which is supposed to be anti-professional. This paradox should be addressed at a structural level if we hope to preserve the ideal of entrepreneurship. Innovation Ethics proposes a solution where we reframe a regulatory metric away from optimization towards innovation through the redistribution of risk across the entrepreneurial ecosystem. This solution finds support in a model of innovation ethics which we have designed to correct the over-reliance on naturalistic models, by stimulating a debate over how, and even if, innovation should proceed.