**8. Conclusions**

The long-term Beuys' legacy can be found in his ability to implement pedagogic, change-making actions centered on the empowerment of individuals through creative development, with a counterinstitutional vision to be brought into a global perspective to address both social equality and preservation of the natural world in a holistic approach [77–79]. He tried to stimulate the interconnection of people to generate a positive change in defense of nature and against the alienation of humanity. His terrain of intervention was Bateson's "*ecology of mind*" [80], the ability of creating situations—at a room, city, or global scale—empowering people's capacity, willingness, and ability to imagine alternative and desirable futures. "*Art is the image of man himself* " (see Figure 5) and of the power to change the world that is hidden in everyone. Paraphrasing Walt Whitman, Beuys' work shows everybody the concrete opportunity and urgency to "*contribute a verse*" to the "*powerful play*" of ecological transition.

**Figure 5.** Beuys' portrait on a tram in Düsseldorf with his famous sentence "*Die Kunst ist das Bild des Menschen selbst*" (Art is the image of man himself) [81].

As he claimed, it is time to shift from a short to a long-term view, exploring our creative and entrepreneurial potential for a grea<sup>t</sup> collective step toward a new evolutionary stage of humanity that is characterized by a holistic view of society, economy, and nature. As a true artist, he really anticipated our time and, in particular, the emerging global generation of social innovators who are trying to afford the challenge of sustainability in the open innovation framework. In this light, Beuys' whole artistic philosophy and production should be further investigated in order to increase the awareness of the fundamental role of art and humanities, together with science and economy, in this crucial phase of human history.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Acknowledgments:** This paper takes inspiration from the background work of the project Zisa Creativa and the foundation of the innovation hub Cre.Zi, Plus inside the cultural city Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa in Palermo (Italy), where original entrepreneurial generation paths are envisaged in order to promote social and territorial regeneration. Zisa Creativa has been supported by a gran<sup>t</sup> of Fondazione con il Sud under its cultural heritage regeneration program.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The author declares no conflict of interest.
