Global issues such as the climate change, or the 'world problematique' as the Club of Rome called them, call for new ways of thinking and acting. Results in physics and cognitive science challenge the foundations on which the academic tradition has developed. Information technology allows us to organize the production and distribution of knowledge in completely new ways. In such circumstances, it should not surprise us if whole new academic frontiers become available when we allow ourselves to be creative in the very way in which we practice our profession. Through my research and teaching I am exploring and developing this possibility.