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Our latest updates, thoughts, and events — as they roll out.
Having integrated the internship programme into the community fabric 15 years ago, we at Demos Helsinki have attempted to refine it iteratively. Our goal is to create a welcoming and inspiring work environment for students at the early stage of their careers and impact-making journeys. We reached out to some interns to share their experiences, and below are their reflections.
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What skills are essential for a transition to a net-zero world? How can governments and businesses go beyond anticipating a green transition and actually building one? What are truly “transformational green skills”? Demos Helsinki will host a discussion at COP28 to explore these questions, inviting a cross-sectoral panel of…
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An Academic Advisory Board has been appointed to Demos Helsinki to strengthen the impact of its scientific research activities. In 2023, Demos Research Institute will have 12 ongoing scientific research projects, four of which will also have an interaction role. The members of the Advisory Board are Professor of Sustainable…
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The European Democracy Shield is a timely and commendable initiative aimed at addressing the EU’s growing democratic challenges. However, it would benefit from a more human-centered approach focusing on citizen participation, civil society engagement, and more nuanced policies on digital regulation.
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This report shares how young people aged 14-19 helped shape Scotland’s Horizon Scanning through a participatory foresight process co-designed with Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament. It reveals insights on young people’s perspectives on topics such as climate, technology, democracy, and society more broadly, and shows how engaging them meaningfully can strengthen anticipatory governance. The methodology offers learnings and tools for governments seeking to embed long-term thinking into policy, and build trust and momentum towards shared large-scale goals.
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This report, created in collaboration with the EU Horizon-funded LIKE-A-PRO project and over 50 food experts across sectors and regions, underscores the urgent need to change the default protein production and consumption within the next two decades.
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Imaginaries on Sustainability Transformation – Report outlines three positive futures
May 19, 2025
Imagining futures where society has successfully undergone a sustainability transformation helps us envision a world in which today’s major negative trends have been brought under control. But what kind of positive futures have been proposed in recent years? At the request of the Finnish Expert Panel for Sustainable Development, Demos Helsinki conducted a literature review and drafted three preliminary visions of such futures.
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The anticipatory policy cycle: not just preparing for the future, but influencing it
May 14, 2025
Governments that invest in foresight-driven policymaking are better positioned to shape the conditions that they operate in. This is how to build policies that both anticipate and influence the future.
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Innovating urban development: Lessons from M4EG & moving beyond growth
April 17, 2025
Two key lessons from our work in the Mayors for Economic Growth project, in collaboration with UNDP Europe and Central Asia: 1) Innovation needs to occur at multiple levels and 2) If we’re to be effective, we must remain humble.
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