Only together can we fight for a fair, sustainable, and joyful next era
Meet Demos Helsinki, a globally operating, independent think tank.
We build practical paths to fair, sustainable, and joyful societies.
Demos Helsinki is a globally operating, non-profit, and independent think tank that conducts research, creates new policy tools, and helps build capacities that instigate and sustain essential transitions. We collaborate with local and national governments, international organisations, civil society, and critical industries to create the tools that will define this pivotal moment in global history.
We help organisations of all kinds to lead societal transformations.
Building fair, sustainable, and joyful societies requires widespread effort. In our 20 years of experience, we bridge the gap between immediate interventions and long-term societal needs. Working with us, you can be sure that you ask the right questions and that the answers are backed by our research-based, kind, and passionate experts.
Our mission is to help organisations turn uncertainty into possibility by remastering technology and imagining alternative futures.
→ Continue reading
Transforming our economies to address this reality is hard work—but it’s work we can do together.
→ Continue reading
Building new and exciting capacities is one of the most long-term impact interventions that can turn organisations into a examples of a new era.
→ Continue reading
Foresight is not just a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have for strengthening your societal relevance in a complex world.
→ Continue reading
Cities can lead collective action. We help city leaders and administrations transform their governance, equipping them with the mindset, tools, and knowledge to address societal challenges.
→ Continue reading
The Cities Mission functioned as a natural experiment that revealed an overlooked property of European governance: cities do not merely implement policy more effectively; they generate governing capacity and governance knowledge that Europe should intentionally incorporate into policy design through a revised multilevel governance architecture.
→ Continue reading
The challenge for the next MFF is not to invent a new governance model, but to organise European decision-making around the governing capacity that already exists.
→ Continue reading
Drawing on almost five years of Cities Mission implementation, Demos Helsinki and its partners from Dark Matter Labs and the Mission Board argue that mission governance has reached policy readiness. Its mechanisms have been tested, its governance infrastructure is in place, and it offers a transferable model for delivering on EU strategic priorities at scale.
→ Continue reading
Collaborations
We are leading societal transformations with partners around the world.
The next frontier for circularity is governance
Post
September 17, 2026
For cross-cutting policy issues, like the transition to circularity, Demos Helsinki has developed a model that works: beating uncertainty through action, empowering relevant stakeholders with autonomy in problem solving, building a shared coordination structure, and adapting through learning what works. The model has been proven to move the circularity agenda forward, despite its complexity and fluctuating political significance.
→ Continue reading