Latest content
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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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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This policy brief focuses on short-term action (2026-2028) around AI governance and provides practical guidelines for experts and policymakers. It introduces a framework that embeds democratic pillars — participation, freedom, equality, transparency, knowledge, and the rule of law — directly into the entire AI lifecycle.
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Amid the complex and persistent challenges of sustainability transitions, experimental governance has emerged as a way to foster reflexivity, learning, and policy innovation through diverse participatory practices. This paper examines the role of transition arena methodologies in expanding and deepening civic engagement in low-carbon transitions, specifically through seven experimental processes focused on “climate-wise housing” in Finland in 2023. These experiments combined digital and in-person facilitation in an attempt to involve citizens in co-producing actionable insights on climate-smart behaviors, building renovations, and renewable energy adoption, hitherto directing the envisioned transition. The research explores three “avenues” of widening participation in transition arenas, namely expanding, complementing, and opening such arenas to explore questions regarding the potential and limitations of widening transition arena participation and the impact of such breadth on the depth of citizen engagement. Findings highlight trade-offs between different scopes and modes of citizen participation and reveal how participatory processes shape public engagement and policy responsiveness. By suggesting four implications on designing and implementing citizen engagement processes, the study contributes to a nuanced understanding of participation in transition governance and its implications for sustainability transformations.
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Tervetuloa Demos Helsingin ja Time-Use Initiativen järjestämään maksuttomaan online-webinaariin “Aika hyvinvoinnin resurssina: suunnittelun katvealue?” Mikä: Webinaarin aiheena on, miten ajan käyttöä tietoisesti ohjaamalla voidaan parantaa organisaatioiden ja kaupunkien hyvinvointia ja tuottavuutta. Tilaisuus pidetään suomeksi ja englanniksi. Missä ja milloin: Zoomissa keskiviikkona 27.5. Klo 14–15.30 Kiire, työn ja vapaa-ajan epätasapaino ja pitkät…
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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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A New Way to Manage Elderly Care is Tested in Three Nordic Cities
March 8, 2016
Ageing population is a tricky challenge for human-orientated welfare systems. Traditionally Finland, as well as other Nordic countries, has been emphasizing the societal benefits that happen through supporting self-imposed learning and coping of people. The number of over-75s is expected to double in the next two decades in Finland –…
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This is the suburb of the future
March 4, 2016
One exceptional neighbourhood in Stockholm is taking the lead in smart urban development “Bagarmossen is Stockholm’s friendliest neighbourhood,” says Tobias Lind with a smile on his face. Lind knows the city inside out: he has 10 years’ experience in developing suburban areas in Stockholm and now works for Stockholmshem, Sweden’s…
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Why involve users in IoT?
March 3, 2016
The Internet of Things (IoT) is shimmering now, but if its users – the people – are forgotten during the development, it will fail. When we are talking about the IoT, where different devices and spaces communicate by themselves, it’s easy to forget the people around them. However, there’s no…
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