Lina Forsman

De Bruxelles à Helsinki! Lina is our go-to expert on how multilevel governance works in practice. Before joining Demos, she helped put cities at the centre of EU policymaking, shaping advocacy strategies on everything from urban air and water quality to nature restoration. Her work focused on the climate transition and enabling legislation for reducing pollution in cities, giving her hands-on experience of navigating complex EU processes.

Lina continues this work at Demos, where she now co-leads our EU Policy Advocacy work. As part of this, she helps set the strategic direction of our EU policy agenda, supports researchers by translating project results into practical recommendations for key legislative files, and builds constructive dialogue with policymakers.

She has also led work to support cities in securing EU funding and using innovation projects as part of city-wide strategies, helping them act as climate frontrunners while advancing strategic research agendas. She’s especially interested in the layered systems that make up cities; how these layers interact and how they can be steered toward both net-zero goals and healthier living environments. As part of NetZeroCities, she draws on this experience and interest by reimagining governance models for driving societal transformations and experimenting with more adaptive, multilevel policy approaches.

A devoted trail runner, Lina is moving from duathlons to triathlons by honing her technique and becoming a stronger swimmer. “How hard could it possibly be?” is one of her mottos, and she will have plenty of chances to find this out during her first full-distance Ironman next summer.