Topic

Public governance

Commentary

When changes run faster than plans – the OECD highlighted 4 ways how governments can cope with complexity

The OECD organized a conference for initiating an international dialogue between the best practices that aim to renew public sector functions. Demos Helsinki was invited to the OECD’s headquarters in Paris to present the Finnish approach to experimental policy making. The Finnish model was listed as one of the top…

What, if anything, can a government in India learn from a Nordic think tank?

Demos Helsinki recently had the honor of being invited to assist the government of Assam in India in the establishment of a new innovation lab. Our very own government innovation experts, Roope Mokka and Jaakko Kuosmanen, have spent the past months working on the project. Here, Roope and Jaakko talk…

On an expedition in the US: Why open innovation and participatory processes stumble or succeed?

This year Demos Helsinki’s Head of Co-creation Outi Kuittinen visits the New School and Harvard as a Fulbright Scholar to explore how open innovation and participatory processes stumble or succeed. And will bring you the insights. Co-creation, open and participatory processes for innovating services and for planning policies are slowly…

UN Habitat III: Smart city evolution will transform consumers into active co-designers of the city | Demos Helsinki

The UN Habitat conference, officially titled the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, is held once every 20 years. From Habitat I in Vancouver in 1976 to Habitat II in Istanbul in 1996, the conference has sought to create more sustainable urbanization. The 2016 conference was hosted in Quito, Ecuador, and…

This is why Finland is able to implement the basic income experiment

BBC, Forbes, Independent, Mashable, Telegraph, Time and Quartz among other media outlets have have written about Finland’s experiment with basic income on a national level. However, none of the articles uncover the reason why Finland can pull off such ambitious policies in an age where so many government are left…

Statement to the Finnish Parliament Committee for the Future about the Biggest Challenges

Topic: 20/2015 vp Parliament Committee for the Future projects 2015-2019 Theme: Expert hearing on the most important challenges of the future and means to improve foresight processes. Statement by Demos Helsinki: There are three things that everyone needs to understand. Not tomorrow, not next week, not next year, not next…

Publications

Digitaalisen yhteiskunnan korjausopas – REPAIR-tutkimushankkeen julkaisu

Strategisen tutkimuksen neuvoston rahoittama REPAIR-tutkimushanke käsittelee algoritmisten järjestelmien murtumia. Hankkeen uudessa julkaisussa Digitaalisen yhteiskunnan korjausoppaassa tarkastellaan kuuden tutkimustapauksen ja kahden toimintamallin avulla murtumien vaikutuksia, niiden korjaustyötä sekä mahdollisuuksia oppia niistä.

Towards long-term governance – From future awareness to action

How can countries strengthen their capacity for long-term governance and ensure that future generations are taken into account in decision-making? In this white paper, we highlight ways to promote anticipatory governance based on the views of key Finnish stakeholders. By translating the Finnish experience into a broader context, we aim to provide universally applicable strategies for advancing long-term governance and promoting intergenerational justice.

Generative Shared Intelligence: A direction for governments in the uncertain environment of the late 2020s

The notion of a “polycrisis” has become a defining feature of contemporary governance, and traditional administrative methods are increasingly inadequate. In this publication, Professor Sir Geoff Mulgan’s concept of “Generative Shared Intelligence” offers a model for addressing multidimensional problems in governance, emphasising the need for more flexible and collaborative structures designed for the sole purpose of sharing intelligence.

Projects

South Sudan builds long-term thinking while addressing present needs

Without a shared vision of the future, decisions made today may inadvertently lead us down the most familiar paths, not the right ones. 

Circular Economy Green Deal – a steering instrument for collective action towards circularity

The Circular Economy Green Deal is a novel Finnish steering instrument that catalyses collective action for systemic change towards circularity based on voluntary commitments. Demos Helsinki had the honour of leading the co-creative process that led to the creation of the Circular Economy Green Deal.

KT4D: Fostering democracy through knowledge technologies

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems can undermine democracy via the cultural disruptions they create, the power dynamics they shift, their tendency toward opacity, and the speed at which they change. The KT4D project investigates how democracy and civic participation can be facilitated in an era of rapidly changing knowledge technologies — such as AI and big data, thereby mitigating the risks of such technologies and identifying how they can be used to reinforce democratic governance and trust in public institutions.

People

Themes