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Our latest updates, thoughts, and events — as they roll out.
In Imagining Change Through Science – Demos Helsinki Research Encounters, we explored how science and research have shaped societal change.
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Demos Helsinki is currently involved in 14 Horizon Europe projects. From exploring the societal impacts of new technologies to tackling climate challenges, these projects reflect a growing demand for research that sparks systemic change. Discover how we are working across disciplines to shape fairer, more sustainable futures.
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These three research projects are: 1) Reducing polarisation via material participation (MaDem); 2) Coastal waters under pressure – safeguarding a healthy Gulf of Finland in a changing geopolitical and environmental landscape (CoWup); and 3) Safe Water for All (WaterFall).
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Finland managed the Covid-19 pandemic comparatively well. Yet the longer the crisis lasted, the more visible the limits of the governance system became. This brief examines what a prolonged crisis revealed about institutional strength, societal vulnerabilities, and the kind of governance future crises demand.
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Decades of low growth in Finland may be a symptom of a weakened capacity for renewal inside organisations, including the country’s top businesses. In this report, we explore the role that Finnish companies play in the current growth environment and document what business leaders think should be done next. We conclude with key recommendations for boards and executive teams to create the conditions for a renewed purpose in business, one that fits the current Finnish context and reveals underused capacity for renewal.
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Finland, like all countries of the Global North, is currently dependent on economic growth. Yet future growth may be very limited and uncertain – and decoupling it from increasing environmental harm will not be easy. Could the principle of sufficiency help us navigate towards better futures?
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Join us for an interactive deep-dive learning experience on imagining, structuring, organising and mobilising for long-term & systemic societal change. Hosted by Transition Collective in partnership with TIAL and Demos Helsinki.
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Misunderstanding of Platforms Will Lead to Costly Failures
July 23, 2019
The business concept “platform” is widely misunderstood. Platforms are wrongly defined as digital tools that help two or more groups to interact. This causes much undesired ambivalence: Are electric scooter companies platforms? How is the interaction between the driver and the passenger in Uber different from a cab company? The…
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It is not the survival of cities at stake, but the survival of rural areas
June 13, 2019
As cities capture parts of the power previously granted for nation states only, concerns about rural futures in the urban age have started to emerge. The role of rural areas is one of the most pressing issues for sustainable and democratic urban futures.
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What we did not learn from the Finnish basic income experiment – and what to do next?
May 14, 2019
It has been exciting to read the news and commentaries on the preliminary results of the Finnish basic income experiment. Seldom if ever have we seen so many articles published on an academic study almost in real time, written by journalists, experts and enthusiasts from all over the globe. Two…
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