New challenges for health and well-being: More than human health

Health and well-being, two concepts that are very similar but have different meanings, are well-known and debated topics, addressed with more or less specificity by all sectors (governments, public and private institutions, universities, SMEs), but they turn out to be, even today, as topical as ever. Issue 26 of the Rivista Italiana di Ergonomia, however, wishes to extend the concept of health not only to human beings, but to all living beings, to the planet in other words. If it is true that the health of humans and that of the planet today are more intertwined than ever, then the climate change and environmental crisis as a component of the Anthropocene, the current conflicts, and the new ones the Covid-19 global pandemic , the ageing and increasing world population, deaths in the workplace and finally the phenomenon of migration, represent a threat in the near future that could affect our health and well-being, and that of the planet on which we live. The scenario we have just described highlights upcoming and future challenges that need to be studied and addressed. The future is bound to hold many surprises in store for us, for which we must prepare ourselves from a social, cultural, and technological point of view. Thanks to technological progress to research in its most gen- eral sense, these challenges can be solved. Change is already taking place. The articles that follow, contained in this new issue of the Rivista Italiana di Ergonomia, focus on these themes, objects, technologies and the built environment, stimulating and fuelling debate, discussion and reflection on the role of ergonomics in promoting health, personal and social well-being, and the well-being of the entire ecosystem.