About Demos Helsinki

As a journalist, you contribute to the future by highlighting ideas that matter. Whether you are already writing a story or looking for inspiration, Demos Helsinki can provide trustworthy commentary while remaining joyful and optimistic about societies and our future.

Governments and other organisations come to Demos Helsinki looking for new ideas, concepts, points of growth, and strategic change when old tools become outdated. Our people lead the way in challenging the status quo to bring about positive societal change. We work with global actors, including the United Nations, OECD, European Commission, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and many others, to reshape societies.

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Get the unexpected angle of any story — big or small

Demos Helsinki experts always provide useful context that can promote public dialogue and increase the stakes of any story. All of our experts are available for comments, and you can find them here. Otherwise, see if something sparks your interest from the featured topics below:

Cutting-edge research and evidence-based policies

Cutting-edge research and evidence-based policies

We have an extensive research portfolio that explores the dynamics of institutions and society.

See our latest research -> 

Public administration and governance

Public administration and governance

Our current institutions, tools, and policies are not fit for purpose. We have been building a number of approaches, models, and frameworks that can create a new type of governance — one that can instigate and sustain just transformations. 

See our relevant research, projects, experts, and thoughts ->

Sustainability and post-sustainability

Sustainability and post-sustainability

Our experts have 20 years of experience studying societal and behavioural trends regarding the sustainability transition, while also carrying out direct engagements with governments, companies, universities, and civil society to accelerate a just transformation.  

See our work and experts on Sustainability & Climate Action ->

New economic thinking, wellbeing economy, new economic indicators

New economic thinking, wellbeing economy, new economic indicators

Our economic system has revealed its pain points. We believe that there are economic interventions that go beyond policy. What if our economies focused on wellbeing instead of growth? What if new key indicators replaced GDP? 

See our work on big economic questions ->

Industrial policy for the post-industrial era

Industrial policy for the post-industrial era

Industrial policy is about governance — and we said before it was cool. Governments are now dealing with strategic uncertainty and a gap in capacities, while also missing the right tools to engage meaningfully with critical-industry leaders. 

See our work and experts on Industry & Innovation ->

Emerging technologies and how to design, develop and deploy them equitably

Emerging technologies and how to design, develop and deploy them equitably

Technology cannot be treated as a sector. We consistently develop research and recommendations on the responsible and ethical deployment of technologies, the rollout of ethical AI, and the future of work, governance, and regulation in a digitalised era.  

See our work and experts in Technology ->

See our work and experts around ethical AI ->

The future of care, healthcare, and welfare

The future of care, healthcare, and welfare

Demands for care are growing due to a number of factors. Our work shows the need to integrate care in all economic sectors and all aspects of life.

See our work and experts on the future of care -> 

See our work and experts on health and wellbeing ->

Cities, their challenges, and their opportunities

Cities, their challenges, and their opportunities

Cities can lead essential transitions by instigating and sustaining collective action. Our 20+ years of experience in urban transformations reveals city-governance gaps and opportunities. 

See our work and experts in Cities -> 

See our work and experts in Construction -> 

Connect with the right expert

Connect with the right expert

Send your request to angeliki.vourdaki[at]demoshelsinki.fi, including your name, publication, and a short summary of what interests you. Our colleague, Angeliki, will help direct you to the right person. 

Latest news

See what Demos Helsinki has been up to.

Stories of our Interns

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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AI Ethics: Join us for an open guest lecture by Prof. Brent Mittelstadt

Recent interest in the ethics of artificial intelligence has resulted in a rapid proliferation of guidelines, principles and a broad variety of policies intended to make the development, usage, and governance of AI better aligned with ethical principles. But what do abstract concepts like transparency, fairness and accountability actually mean in practice, beyond their oversimplification when operationalized?


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Demos Helsinki at COP28: Developing skills for the workforce of the future

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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Finnish economic policy in the 2020s and beyond: A pre-election debate

On March 2, 2023, we hosted an election debate at our office in Helsinki and online. This page hosts a recap in Finnish and English as well as a recording of the event.   The event welcomed political representatives from six parties across the political spectrum in Finland. The coming…


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Finnish economic policy in the 2020s and beyond: A pre-election debate

On March 2, 2023, we hosted an election debate at our office in Helsinki and online. This page hosts a recap in Finnish and English as well as a recording of the event.   The event welcomed political representatives from six parties across the political spectrum in Finland. The coming…


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Academic Advisory Board to support Demos Helsinki’s research activities

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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See our previous media coverage