Looking at what’s happening all over the world today, it’s time to stand up for democracy, in particular, to those who live in the countries where democracy had seemed to be unshakable. I feel very bad that cultural and social crisis are diffusing following with financial and economic ones, which largely disrupts everyday life or value system of many of us all over the world, so much that we can’t be silence any longer. To be a designer, design researcher and design educator, on the one hand, I know well that design is often used as a tool and approach for business and commercial purpose with added values in user/client-centered principles. On another, Design culture has strong sensibility in human-centered principles with broad perspectives. DESIS is part of that. Nevertheless, even though I am working on social innovation, I was carefully to involve into political issues and some big issues like democracy. Obviously, facing pressing challenges, we can’t stay well alone in global village. I think it’s to stand up for a better world. Despite of that, in Chinese context we may have different ideas of democracy, I understand and respect well the core value of democracy, on which west modern civilization is built. I also propose to attention Chinese civilization, which is not what looks like today after dramatically westernizing, but traditional intelligence at the beginning of Chinese civilization. I feel it may open an alternative gate for the future of our global society.

Miaosen Gong

Jiangnan University

Wuxi, China