Demos Helsinki is part of three SRC-funded research projects on democracy and water security

Following the most recent Strategic Research Council of Finland (SRC) funding call, Demos Helsinki is honoured to be part of three multi-year research projects starting in 2025. These projects aim to tackle pressing real-world challenges related to democratic participation and environmental security through multidisciplinary consortia, active stakeholder engagement, and a diverse range of methodologies. 

All three projects run from 12/2024 to 11/2027, with the possibility of continuing for an additional three-year phase. Details about the projects’ context, goals, and consortium are described below. 

Reducing polarisation via material participation (Material Democracy or MaDem)

Global crises trigger widespread sweeping changes in both social systems (e.g., laws, institutions, communities) and physical/material structures (e.g., infrastructure, technology). These so-called socio-material transformations are inherently complex and require specialised expertise, often leading to technocratic policymaking processes — processes that overtly focus on technical knowledge and sideline public opinion. This, in turn, tends to fuel populist backlash and divisive political mobilisation, weakening democratic institutions’ capacities to act on the crises effectively.

Building on theories of material participation and participatory public governance where citizens are actively engaged and involved in decision-making, the MaterialDemocracy consortium investigates a fundamental question: How can we strengthen democracy to better navigate large-scale social and material changes throughout the upstream and downstream of policymaking?

MaterialDemocracy prepares democracy for the radical societal shifts associated with climate change, urbanisation, green transition, and biodiversity loss. In the Finnish context, it studies how participation in long-term policy design focused on infrastructure, energy, and the environment, as well as in everyday practices, can reduce social polarisation. Led by Demos Helsinki, the project also establishes a dedicated Material Democracy Hub to collaborate with stakeholders and run and evaluate experiments to advance meaningful democratic reforms.

The consortium includes Aalto University (PI), LUT University, the University of Helsinki, the University of Eastern Finland, and Demos Helsinki.

Coastal waters under pressure — safeguarding a healthy Gulf of Finland in a changing geopolitical and environmental landscape (CoWup)

Coastal waters are important providers of economic and social benefits to the surrounding communities. However, amidst a wide range of environmental and geopolitical challenges, protecting the marine environment and sustainable use of marine resources is key to maintaining coastal water health and safeguarding the benefits.

This project focuses on identifying, analysing, and quantifying risks to the marine environment in the Gulf of Finland, especially in the current geopolitical context of the Russia-Ukraine war. In collaboration with key stakeholders, it develops risk scenarios and evaluates the identified risks in the marine environment under uncertainty. Furthermore, the project also suggests alert and response systems, as well as policy recommendations for risk management and mitigation.

In CoWup, Demos Helsinki focuses on strategic interaction and communication to enhance preparedness, resilience, and sustainable governance for the Gulf of Finland and similar regions, leveraging methodologies such as the Delphi process and Policy Operations Room Simulation for preparedness.

The consortium consists of the Finnish Meteorological Institute (PI), the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), the University of Helsinki, and Demos Helsinki.

Safe Water for All (WaterFall)

Finnish water services, while renowned as some of the best in the world, also face challenges. Shifts in demographics, evolving operational landscapes, and growing physical and cyber security threats are straining the water system. These external risks, compounded by internal deficiencies, such as ageing infrastructure, unsustainable financing models, and underdeveloped digitalisation in small water utilities, increase the risks for contamination and operational failures. The situation calls for new ways to monitor and secure critical water infrastructures, from water abstraction points to supply networks.

WaterFall ultimately aims to ensure long-term water security and sustainable water management in Finland by strengthening the resilience of water services across every level of society. Additionally, WaterFall supports national preparedness by improving the government’s access to reliable water supply security data, enabling more effective crisis response.

In collaboration with stakeholders, WaterFall will deliver concrete tools to improve water supply resilience, such as a national risk map, digital solutions for water supply management and prediction, tools to estimate future investment needs, and health risk assessment tools.

Demos Helsinki is tasked with creating participatory scenarios and a foresight process in the project. This includes building future scenarios based on multidisciplinary research (regarding hydrology, environmental health, public health, law, social science, political science, military science, economy, maths, computer science, and engineering) and facilitating participatory backcasting workshops with regional and national actors.

WaterFall’s consortium includes the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (PI), Syke, the University of Oulu, the University of Lapland, the Finnish National Defence University, and Demos Helsinki.

Growing portfolio, growing contribution to transformations

These projects contribute to Demos Helsinki’s growing research portfolio on societal transformations. In addition, we are also kick-starting two new Horizon Europe projects: TIMBERHAUS to foster sustainable timber construction in Europe; and FORSEE on expanding visions of successful AI deployment in society. We are excited to share more about these projects soon.

Reach out to us!

If you have any questions or any particular interest in these projects, please contact:

Satu Lähteenoja – Interaction Lead of MaDem

satu.lahteenoja@demoshelsinki.fi

Iina Koskinen – Work Package Lead of CoWup

iina.koskinen@demoshelsinki.fi 

Johannes Klein  – Demos Helsinki’s Task Lead of WaterFall

johannes.klein@demoshelsinki.fi 

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