This autumn, Demos Helsinki has won several large grants for research projects from the most competitive research funding programs in the world. This strengthens Demos Helsinki’s research capabilities and positions our team strongly in the European and Finnish research ecosystems. NetZeroCities We are a research partner in the…
This autumn, Demos Helsinki has won several large grants for research projects from the most competitive research funding programs in the world. This strengthens Demos Helsinki’s research capabilities and positions our team strongly in the European and Finnish research ecosystems.
NetZeroCities
We are a research partner in the €53 million Horizon 2020 Green Deal project NetZeroCities that just launched. NetZeroCities is the project to support the EU’s climate-neutral Smart Cities Mission to deliver 100+ climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030 and inspire all other cities to follow suit by 2050. Demos’ main roles in the project are in studying and crafting the approach for research-based social innovations and systemic innovations.
“The work to be taken in NetZeroCities links to our previous collaborative research and then helps us accelerate progress in and with the chosen pack of cities”, says Dr. Tech, Kaisa Schmidt-Thomé.
Pandemic governance
We have newly started research on pandemics and governance, becoming a research and interaction partner in the Strategic Research Council of Finland project WELGO. The project focuses on safeguarding welfare in times of pandemics through enabling collaboration. WELGO collects together a consortium of six research organizations to look at the collaborative governance of pandemic responses.
“WELGO adds an important perspective to the discussion by looking at the combined health, wellbeing, employment and other effects of pandemics on citizens and the Finnish society”, says D.Sc. Kari Jalonen. “We’re excited to contribute to the research and societal discussion on this important topic.”
Lost Millennials
Additionally, we are taking part in the EEA-funded project Lost Millennials. This research project focuses on a generally understudied demographic, namely young people between the ages of 25 and 29, who are neither in education nor training or employment.
“We will support this research project by collecting data and facilitating the flow of information specifically around the Finnish case”, says Kari Jalonen. Demos Helsinki’s previous work on education and equality will support this contribution.
Anti-rival technology
Also, in April this year, the Horizon FET project ATARCA started. The project has the vision to create: (1) a new decentralized technology, called “anti-rival tokens”, and (2) scientifically founded proposals for new policies to enable efficient, decentralized, market-style trading & ecosystems for anti-rival goods.
“Anti-rivalry opens up a new horizon for analyzing the intersection of digital and economic policies in the EU”, says D.Soc.Sci Anna Björk. “As such, this very exciting and transdisciplinary consortium will develop policy recommendations and roadmaps for fair and sustainable digital markets.”
Demos Helsinki has been investing in growing its research capabilities and academic research volume since late 2019. For example, in September 2020, we hired four new senior researchers. Demos Helsinki aims to scale up its multidisciplinary transformation research activities further, to help create new knowledge and research-based propositions for a more fair and sustainable society.
Feature Image: Danist Soh / Unsplash