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come to Demos Helsinki looking for new ideas, concepts, points of growth, and strategic change when old tools become outdated.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.

12 firms selected for the Peloton Smart Retro Acceleration Programme

12 companies have been selected for the Peloton Smart Retro Acceleration Programme, organised by Demos Helsinki. The participating firms provide smart and sustainable services for urban citizens. These include City Car Club, Ekerne & Gamla Enskede Lådcyklar AB, Fourdeg, Greenely, IAgree, Meido, MoralGuard, Nurmi Clothing, PiggyBaggy, Remarket, Urban Fruit Initiative…


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Demos Helsinki at Slush 2014: Impact through wicked opportunities

Startup scene is getting more diverse – it’s no longer only about games and mobile apps. Themes like health, education and resource smart living offer practically an endless demand for solutions. This is visible also at Slush which has a big focus on impact this year.   Demos Helsinki is going…


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Apply for Peloton Smart Retro Acceleration Program by 30 October!

Are you an entrepreneur with a smart product or a service for urban dwellers? Are you looking for a fast way to find partners and users, test and hit the market? Peloton Smart Retro Acceleration Program offers a highway access for Nordic startups and entrepreneurs to partnerships, mentors, user communities and…


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Smartups lead the new wave of startup companies

As natural resources become scarcer, giant companies of the old guard are in trouble. At Flow Talks Even Heggernes from Airbnb, Minister of the Environment Ville Niinistö, Marko Ahtisaari from MIT Media Lab, and Tero Ojanperä from Vision+ shed light on how resource scarcity next turns to transform consumer markets….


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Demos Helsinki, Slush and Flow Festival bring Flow Talks to Suvilahti on Friday the 8th of August. Sign up now – only a few spaces left!

Flow Festival expands as Demos Helsinki together with Slush and Flow bring the sharpest knives from the world of startups, smart cities and social movements to Flow Talks in Suvilahti on the 8th of August. Flow Talks Smartup Summit continues a series of talks on sustainable growth organised by Demos…


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Demos Helsinki launches Demos Effect

After almost ten years of existence Demos Helsinki takes a remarkable step forward: we launch Demos Effect to help businesses to reach for markets growing from wicked opportunities. “Wicked opportunities” arise from “wicked problems”, a category of problems like the climate change, natural resources scarcity, obesity and other lifestyle diseases, that differ from…


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See our previous media coverage