Topic
Cities
Commentary
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…
The emergence of the digital economy and the need to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions are changing the way we live and work, faster than ever before. These megatrends have given rise to numerous smart city initiatives that aim to lead cities into a carbon neutral future with the smart use of digital technology. But…
In the Nordic countries, migration into cities accelerated in the early 20th century, and the 1930s saw the beginning of a drive to reshape the built environment. By 1970 the majority of the population lived in cities. This shift took place comparatively late in Western European terms, enabling the relevant…
Cities are not like they used to be. Cities all over the world are repurposing themselves and building new narratives of their future success. While the rest of society defines progress in increasingly economic terms, cities have started thinking more about their population and their capacity to create a flourishing environment…
Urbanisation is one of the most important megatrends to shape global society of the 21st century. However, urbanisation puts a strain on the quality of life in cities, as well as the management of big infrastructure systems, such as city traffic and energy usage. The Smart City approach is the…
Publications
A group of motivated cities and municipalities in Finland joined a one-year problem-solving journey to address the numerous interrelated challenges that slow down sustainable city transition. Demos Helsinki coordinated the subgroup, which focused on the “challenge bundle” of urban planning.
Achieving an impactful decrease in homelessness — and preventing it from happening in the first place — requires significant structural and operational changes. While Housing First holds great potential to enable systemic change in homelessness, it also risks being interpreted and deployed as a mere housing management tool — a misunderstanding of tragic consequences.
Over the past decades, the term “smart city” has been used as a catch-all for various city development initiatives and concepts. With this joint Nordic Smart City Roadmap, we want to promote conceptual, ethical, and political guidelines that honor a more human-centric, inclusive, and collaborative approach to developing smarter and more sustainable communities.
Projects
The ongoing biodiversity crisis demonstrates that we need better ways to live with nature in cities. The MUST project, employing a multispecies transition lens, aims to enhance the understanding and visibility of multispecies needs. This, in turn, will foster improved deliberation and action among stakeholders.
Demos Helsinki and the City of Tallinn, the European Green Capital 2023, joined forces to create an innovative approach to sustainability governance in cities. Together, we embarked on a journey to develop the concept of sustainability governance, aware that cities could hold the key to fostering sustainable transformation and have…
The Sustainable City programme, coordinated by Finland’s Ministry of the Environment, convenes a group of motivated cities and municipalities to join a one-year problem-solving journey to address the numerous interrelated challenges that slow down sustainable city transition. The challenges are related to urban planning that considers sustainability goals and prosperous…
People
Angela Galeano
Angela’s work sits at the intersection of innovation, learning, and public transformation. With a sharp eye for systems, a strong belief in experimentation, and a deep sense of humanity, she is especially passionate about helping governments become more imaginative, inclusive, and better equipped to navigate uncertainty, with both creativity and…
Selina Sarantila
Selina is a devout optimist, convinced that a better world is not only possible, but already in the making. In the face of global challenges, she sees empathy and compassion not as soft ideals but as strategic tools for building bold alliances across unexpected lines. Her academic and professional interests…
Veronika Bylicki
Veronika is a strategic leader passionate about the intersection of governance, cities, climate, and democracy. She is particularly interested in the ‘how’: from ensuring that governance structures and decision-making processes enable transformative change rather than reinforce the status quo, to fostering collaboration in teams, organizations, and broader systems. She is…
Johannes Jauhiainen
At Demos Helsinki, Johannes Jauhiainen focuses on participation, interaction, impact, and science-society relations within the CoWup and CO3 research projects. He is passionate about public innovation, new forms of decision-making, democratic development, geopolitics, and the role of cities as pioneers of societal transformation. Before joining Demos Helsinki, Johannes worked on…
Roosa Laakso
As part of the Regerative Localities team at Demos Helsinki, Roosa applies her expertise in multidisciplinary collaboration and sustainability governance expertise in practice. Roosa has a background in the public sector and has previously worked with the national and international implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals at the Prime…
Tanya Sahdev
As part of the New Governance team at Demos Helsinki, Tanya contributes to reimagining and reshaping governance systems for a more inclusive and sustainable future. She brings a unique perspective to her role at Demos Helsinki with her background in design, which empowers her to see the bigger picture while…
Lina Forsman
De Bruxelles à Helsinki! Lina is our expert on multilevel governance from a city perspective. In her previous role, she ensured that cities’ viewpoints were considered in the EU legislative process. Focusing on the climate transition and legislation to tackle pollution in cities, she has drafted and executed numerous advocacy…
Janne Rinne
Janne is a sustainability enthusiast with extensive experience in environmental policy, sustainability transformation, and project management. Janne’s background is a mix of research and hands-on innovation projects. Working as a researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute, he acquired a broad perspective on environmental policy and governance. At the innovation company…
Mariela Urra Schiaffino
Design isn’t just about building objects, it’s also about building a future, and, for Mariela, it’s all about a sustainable one. Through utilising tools of design, imagination, and creativity, she reimagines societal relations to nature. These new perspectives are vital to building a sustainable future for all. Design is an…
Liisa Perjo
Liisa is a social scientist who is interested in what it takes to bring European cities into the planetary boundaries in a just and inclusive way. In her work, she analyses, but also practically supports, planning, policy and practices for collective action towards just and sustainable climate transitions. Before joining…
Yu-Yi Huynh
How can citizen engagement transform cities? If you’re searching for the answer, no need to look further: Yu-Yi is here to help! Her knowledge of citizen engagement processes and participation is sought after. Justice in climate action is something we value deeply and Yu-Yi is an expert in its implementation…
Johannes Klein
Johannes is our experienced climate change adaptation researcher. With a special focus on the governance of adaptation in an urban and regional context, he knows how to find pathways to sustainable and resilient communities through academic research. He is inspired to contribute in just, transformative, and inclusive adaptation action. Being…
Oya Duman
Do you ever find yourself thinking about how to mobilise various stakeholders to achieve fair, sustainable, and joyful cities of the future? Oya sure does! She seamlessly integrates her professional background in architecture with a keen research focus on collaborative urban planning processes. Thanks to this, she really knows her…
Seona Candy
Seona is leading the cross-cutting theme of socio-ecological justice and just transitions at Demos Helsinki. This involves not only how to collaboratively imagine sustainable and equitable futures, but also how to design, implement and monitor transitions to ensure the way to get there is fair, legitimate and socially just. Seona…
Lilybell Evergreen
Lilybell is our go-to climate governance expert. We all know the need for a sustainable future but there are not many pathways to reach it. Governance, however, offers one and Lilybell knows how to utilise this. Having worked with several European cities, including the City of Tallinn, the European Green…
Erkki Perälä
Did you know that cities account for over 70% of global emissions? Erkki sure does, which is why he works on supporting the decarbonisation of several European cities. He is especially intrigued by connecting the narratives of climate change and the built environment, and finds cities a practically-sized unit to…
Kari Jalonen
Kari Jalonen is an organisational researcher whose work at Demos Helsinki focuses on planning, performing and developing the research operations at Demos Helsinki. Kari defended his Ph.D.(Econ.) on city strategy at the Hanken School of Economics in 2017, and has since worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University and…
Kaisa Schmidt-Thomé
Kaisa works with one foot in the practical, one in research. She is our in-house Docent, i.e, Adjunct Professor in Strategic Planning for Urban Sustainability at Tampere University. She is happy to be on-call on this topic and on anything related to regenerative, joyful cities. Kaisa is not a fan…
Otto-Wille Koste
Otto-Wille is a senior expert in the Regenerative Infrastructure Team. He focuses on cities’ sustainability transformations. Cities are under constant change opposed by various phenomena, and Otto-Wille develops processes and solutions with which cities and other actors in the urban sphere can foster required transformations. Otto-Wille holds a master’s degree…
Aleksi Neuvonen
Aleksi Neuvonen is a recognised expert and thinker on understanding the change (and unchange) of societies and organisations. Aleksi holds PhD honors from Tampere University and Radboud University Nijmegen. During his career, Aleksi has published over 30 reports, books or academic articles, focusing primarily on methods and tools for transformative…
Leena Alanko
Leena is our go-to person for developing Demos Helsinki’s sales processes, ensuring that new opportunities both align with our societal impact goals and meet the needs of our partners and clients. She is passionate about reducing health inequalities, promoting the wellbeing of people and the planet, and clarifying the role…
Roope Mokka
Roope is all about the future. For many the future seems scary, but where some see problems Roope sees solutions. He has an exceptional mindset to see the pathway for societal transformation. He gathers impactful alliances through various fields to work together with a shared goal. Whether it is learning…
Juha Leppänen
It’s easy to talk the talk, but we take pride in also walking the walk. And ensuring that this happens is our very own Juha. How to build operational hypotheses to truly drive change forward? What is the “form” in “transformation”? How to organize collective action? Juha isn’t afraid to…
Olli Bremer
Olli has worked with us since early 2016, working across all sorts of projects and in a variety of capacities — for example, serving as Managing Director. Thus, he is a go-to person whenever we need to be able to connect different aspects of our work and sew together a…
Themes
Cities can lead collective action. We help city leaders and administrations transform their governance, equipping them with the mindset, tools, and knowledge to address societal challenges.
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 –…