Topic
Civil service
Commentary
Publications
We believe governments of the 21st Century are vision-driven, continuously learning, and unbounded. This is our vision on Public Sector Innovation of the Next Era.
Projects
Material Democracy develops ways to improve participation in the formulation and implementation of Finland’s environmental and energy policies, aiming to widen and open participation in a manner that also benefits policymaking and democracy. It equally studies citizen-led action and its relationship to public initiatives.
Ever since the publication of its Economic Vision 2030 in 2008, the Kingdom of Bahrain committed an ever-increasing amount of resources and efforts to the intentional promotion of public sector innovation. Their approach entails a two-pronged strategy based on the creation of an environment conducive to innovation (for example, through…
Building capacity around foresight helps policymakers find better pathways to desired futures while learning to prepare for risks and looming challenges. That is why we are working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to…
People
Toban Shadlyn
Toban is drawn to the spaces between things. Between different fields and sectors, between theory and practice, between how things are and how they could be. With a background in human ecology and architecture, her practice has expanded from designing physical spaces to designing the learning and collaborative environments that…
Angela Galeano
Angela’s work sits at the intersection of innovation, learning, and public transformation. Driven by a systemic approach, a culture of experimentation, and a deep sense of humanity, she helps governments become more imaginative, inclusive, and equipped to navigate uncertainty with creativity and care. Before joining Demos Helsinki, Angela managed public…
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…
Sahib Singh
Sahib spends his time at Demos Helsinki’s preoccupied by just democratic futures and global governance. At the moment he won’t stop nattering about the need to think systemically and critically about democratic innovations, the political economy of global governance institutions and modes of effective alliance building. At his best, Sahib’s…
Nina Langerholc
Nina is passionate and hands-on. She orchestrates our governance work and is in constant pursuit of new organisational and system-level approaches to increase the speed of societal transformation. Nina works on bridging the gaps and connecting different sectors, stakeholders, and organisations on a joint transformation journey. This means managing transformation…
Elina Hakoniemi
Navigation into the future requires knowledge about the past – this is Elina’s guiding principle. She’s an expert in societal and political history, especially when it comes to welfare state, education, democracy or political language. Elina’s work focuses on recent history, and she looks at the society and governance via…
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. A key focus is know-how for tackling multi-level problems through means of better coordination…
João Sigora
João Sigora is the Vice-Chair of the Board and a Senior Expert at Demos Helsinki. His work centres on pioneering new approaches to governance and enhancing public sector capacity for reimagining and co-creating desired futures. He brings specialised expertise in public sector innovation, with a strong foundation in foresight, experimentation,…
Iacopo Gronchi
Iacopo is our go-to expert in mission management. Societal transformations are changing the playing field of public governance. Public sector organisations are called on to reflect on the very purpose of their work: in other words, on their mission. That’s why Iacopo’s own mission is to help public managers achieve…
Silva Mertsola
Public administrations are tasked with finding effective and efficacious solutions to complex societal challenges. Simultaneously, they must ensure that their processes are legitimate. Silva supports governments in aligning their governance arrangements with these demands. Silva is a doctoral researcher in political theory at the University of Stockholm where she studies…
Katri Sarkia
As Managing Director, Katri looks out for, well, to put it short: everything! Leading societal transformations means we need the right capacities, relevant projects, new opportunities, and enough financial stability to be able to create impact. At the core of all of this are the people. Katri is the one we…
Mikael Sokero
Mikael is a strategic advisor and a senior expert in governance innovation who helps societies navigate complex sustainability transitions — from the architecture of institutions to the cultures that sustain them. His work sits at the intersection of governance design and systemic change. Colleagues seek him out when the challenge…
Mikko Annala
We are a think tank that holds itself accountable for leading societal transformations. As Chief Development Officer, Mikko is responsible for leading the development of new instruments and priority initiatives that push our mission forward. This means spotting and developing opportunities that impact the evolution of our partners and our…
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…
Themes
Building new and exciting capacities is one of the most long-term impact interventions that can turn organisations into a examples of a new era.
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.