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come to Demos Helsinki looking for new ideas, concepts, points of growth, and strategic change when old tools become outdated.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

Smart Retro Meetup in Stockholm

The Nordic think tank Demos Helsinki is hosting the Smart Retro Meetup in Stockholm to celebrate sustainable service infrastructure. We’ll meet and connect with leaders and innovators from the built sector and beyond.


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Demos Helsinki @SXSW

The leading European innovation think tank Demos Helsinki is at South by Southwest* (SXSW) this weekend looking for friends. Demos Helsinki operates in Finland and Sweden and is known for its ability to turn future trends and innovations that drive social change. Both a think tank and an incubator for…


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Peloton Club Brings Resource Smart Startups to Slush

The Demos Helsinki –led startup incubator Peloton Club will be present at Slush, the biggest startup event in Northern Europe, on the 13th-14th of November at the Helsinki Cable Factory. Along with Peloton Club, Slush draws a dozen young startups that are to introduce themselves on Thursday the 14th in…


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Demos Helsinki presentation awarded best in its category at World Resource Forum

The presentation by the think tank Demos Helsinki was chosen best in the category of Sustainable Business and Industry at the World Resource Forum held in Davos. The winning presentation Gatekeepers of Sustainable Innovation introduces the Peloton programme, where new products and services to support energy smart consumption choices have…


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Peloton – The Makers of New Economy

Peloton (in Finnish “fearless”) supports different industries and organisations in developing products, services and social innovations to help us make resource smart low CO2 choices and to generate new profitable business opportunities for organisations. You can book a Peloton workshop for your organisation or region, help us organise a Peloton…


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HOAS Laboratory

The services of housing are underdeveloped, if not non-existent. Yet housing makes up the largest share of both our ecological footprint and our national income. This was the starting point of our joint project with the biggest constructor of the Helsinki area, Foundation for Student Housing in the Helsinki Region…


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See our previous media coverage