Topic
Economy
Commentary
Two key lessons from our work in the Mayors for Economic Growth project, in collaboration with UNDP: 1) Innovation needs to occur at multiple levels and 2) If we’re to be effective, we must remain humble.
For decades, GDP has stood unchallenged as the primary measure of economic success. As calls to move beyond GDP grow, two approaches have risen to prominence: supplementing it with broader measures, or abandoning it altogether to redefine economic success. What is the best path forward in the debate on GDP?
What if solving the mental health crisis requires transforming the economy itself? Here, we challenge the conventional focus on individual treatments and call for a systemic shift towards addressing the socioeconomic drivers behind mental health issues.
The wellbeing economy offers a new framework for governance, with wellbeing as the core objective for policy. Despite its potential, governments struggle to integrate wellbeing into governance effectively. Demos Helsinki’s work identifies key principles – participation, evidence, measurement, and long-term investments – to bridge the gap between purpose and practice, shaping a governance framework that places human and planetary wellbeing at the heart of economic strategy.
Finland pioneered a governance model for the wellbeing economy, integrating social and planetary wellbeing. Its approach involves broad stakeholder involvement and political prioritization. To implement it elsewhere, countries must tailor localized governance models. Finland’s experience highlights the importance of holistic, multi-stakeholder approaches and integrating ecological goals into policy frameworks.
Publications
At the intersection of resource scarcity, the rising cost of fuel, digitalization and user-centricity lies a vast new business opportunity – one that Finland, with right actions, is fully capable of seizing. The new wave of cleantech, consumer cleantech, refers to consumer targeted solutions that decrease the use of natural…
Green economy is widely recognized as one of an essential drivers shaping businesses and innovation strategies in the coming years. However, only in very few consumer sector companies sustainability and innovation are interlinked in responsibilities of professionals: sustainability issues are often still too remote or marginal to be a key…
In the article we examine the variety of strategic sustainability approaches of mid-size companies in Finland. The data consists of firm-level interviews with 20 companies. The companies that we look at are the ones that could be called forerunners – they are companies eager to grow and to make profit…
Projects
Even though economic instruments for sustainability purposes have long been implemented in the national policies across the Nordics, their effectiveness remains understudied. This project evaluates the effectiveness of environmental taxes and charges in shifting behaviours of consumers and producers towards a more sustainable direction in the Nordic countries.
Despite being an established indicator of economic growth, GDP is debated to overlook the true essence of citizens’ quality of life and overall wellbeing. This project aims to improve knowledge on indicators beyond GDP, alternative and more sustainable policy options, and scenarios for a sustainable future.
As technological breakthroughs can play a critical role in addressing societal challenges, research & innovation (R&I) policy needs to shift the focus from merely appreciating the inherent value of technology development to exploring how they can be harnessed for achieving key societal goals. This project aims to produce a knowledge base to ensure Finland’s R&I policy is strategically impactful while remaining supportive of emerging technologies.
People
Ella Välimäki
Ella is an Expert at Demos Helsinki, working at the intersection of society, technology, and the wellbeing economy. She focuses on how engagement and interaction can serve as tools for societal transformation. With a background in international relations and EU politics, Ella is driven by a desire to support a…
Anni Saviniemi
Anni is passionate about making sustainability the default in everyday life—an ambition she approaches by focusing on societal and structural changes. She brings expertise in understanding everyday practices, the role of materiality, and how knowledge is produced and shared. Currently, Anni is completing her master’s degree in sociology at University…
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…
Theo Cox
Theo is our first port of call for all things heterodox economics and political economy, although, when pressed, he’ll quietly admit to an education as a more traditional economist. In recent years, he’s developed particular expertise around global polycrisis and what this means for systemic transformation; in an organisation fighting…
Anna Björk
Anna is a political scientist whose academic love affairs include research on political concepts, societal impacts of emerging technologies, and temporality. Her current and upcoming research analyses societal transformations from the perspectives of the EU digital policy, contemporary social contracts, and inclusivity. Alongside doing research, Anna is also working closely…
Otso Sillanaukee
Otso aims to ensure that Demos Helsinki is focusing on the right questions related to people and organisations’ agency in building a fair, sustainable, and joyful next era. His accountabilities include identifying impact opportunities, ensuring projects run smoothly towards their goals, and supporting the team’s wellbeing and motivation to tackle…
Julia Jousilahti
Julia is a social scientist working in Demos Helsinki’s Emancipatory Economy team. As the economy is a man-made system and not a force of nature, Julia is convinced we can build a better economic system – one that admits the fundamental interconnectedness with nature and guarantees the basic assets of…
Johannes Nuutinen
Leading societal transformations is no easy task that we have chosen here at Demos Helsinki. It requires constant strategic planning and new initiatives. Luckily, Johannes brings clarity to all the ambiguity surrounding half-drawn visions of impact. This means finding the relevant concrete steps to implement new forms of collaboration or…
Oona Frilander
Oona Frilander (M.Econ.) is a senior consultant at Demos Helsinki. She works to understand long-term societal change and rapid transformation of private, public and third sector organizations’ operational environments. Her expertise lies in strategic foresight and cross-sectoral partnerships for solving societal challenges. Oona is also is a lecturer through the…
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…
Themes
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Imaginaries on Sustainability Transformation – Report outlines three positive futures
May 19, 2025
Imagining futures where society has successfully undergone a sustainability transformation helps us envision a world in which today’s major negative trends have been brought under control. But what kind of positive futures have been proposed in recent years? At the request of the Finnish Expert Panel for Sustainable Development, Demos Helsinki conducted a literature review and drafted three preliminary visions of such futures.