Topic
Society
Commentary
The Finnish education system is widely acknowledged as one of the best in the world. It has been studied and celebrated by filmmakers, journalists, researchers, educators, and policymakers. Finnish students have been front-runners in every PISA test since 2000. Ninety-three per cent of Finns graduate from university or At the…
Businesses, governments, and organizations all over the world have been forced into reactive mode. But the pandemic isn’t the only cause of uncertainty. Societal roles and expectations are evolving rapidly and human experiences are at the center of change. Now people will remember 2020 (at least) for the pandemic,…
As Covid vaccines roll out, we start to think about the time when our societies will reopen. Various estimates say that it will take between half a year to two years—at least with the limited knowledge we now have. As a result, the focus is shifting away from the crisis…
In the midst of a global pandemic, most countries are opting for national and local solutions, mostly discarding any global or international approaches. Though this path may lead to increased system resiliency and environmental sustainability, sole localism will not be sufficient to solve this crisis or address the other challenges…
March 2020. It only takes a day to receive a text message from the Prime Minister informing you of a lockdown. It only takes a week for unemployment statistics to record-breakingly surge. It only takes a month and the healthcare system is on the brink of collapse. Will it take…
Publications
Finland managed the Covid-19 pandemic comparatively well. Yet the longer the crisis lasted, the more visible the limits of the governance system became. This brief examines what a prolonged crisis revealed about institutional strength, societal vulnerabilities, and the kind of governance future crises demand.
Finland, like all countries of the Global North, is currently dependent on economic growth. Yet future growth may be very limited and uncertain – and decoupling it from increasing environmental harm will not be easy. Could the principle of sufficiency help us navigate towards better futures?
This policy brief focuses on short-term action (2026-2028) around AI governance and provides practical guidelines for experts and policymakers. It introduces a framework that embeds democratic pillars — participation, freedom, equality, transparency, knowledge, and the rule of law — directly into the entire AI lifecycle.
Projects
The Climate-Proofing Nordic Security project examines whether the region’s whole-of-society security model is built for the climate reality now taking shape. Funded by the Nordic Climate and Air Programme (NKLP), the project combines climate-security risk mapping with a hands-on simulation exercise for decision-makers across Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland.
Jharkhand now has roadmaps through 2050 to steer a fair shift from coal, a trained district cohort and a shared method. The work finished in May 2025 and left the state with people who can act.
How can we secure societal wellbeing and sustain the promises of the welfare state in a world where economic growth is limited or even cools down? Sustainability rooted in sufficiency, rather than growth, can reshape businesses, the economy, and societal wellbeing.
People
Carolina Jansen
Carol is passionate about people, research, and public policy. She finds poetry in the small things in life and is always ready to work collectively. She believes it is possible to develop a new form of public governance: one that brings together public policy and grassroots technology to protect constitutional…
Cecilia af Hällström
Cecilia’s work focuses on societal transformations that foster a culture of care and responsibility that sustains the planet in all its diversity. A society within planetary boundaries, where all life can flourish, is the goal – systemic changes in governance, societal structures, behaviours and cultures is what Cecilia works with to…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Maria Malho
Maria is a political scientist specialising in foresight, scenarios and futures thinking to create both high-quality research as well as actionable visions and strategies for making desirable futures easier to reach. She has extensive experience in leading and facilitating projects and research processes on a wide array of topics ranging…
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…
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…
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…
Johannes Mikkonen
Johannes is dedicated to redefining the terms and conditions of our digital futures by exploring the ways to reshape our current sociotechnical systems, advising on policies to remaster technologies and forming visions of emerging alternative futures. At Demos Helsinki, Johannes has worked with various ministries and Prime Minister’s Offices around…
Juha Leppänen
Juha Leppänen serves as Chair of the Board at Demos Helsinki. With a mission to build a fair, sustainable and joyful next era, Juha helps national and local governments, businesses and NGOs to anticipate and lead key transformations of our century. Advising actors from private corporations like Nokia to NGOs…
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
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Rethinking the social contract in the post-pandemic world
July 8, 2021
What tensions shake the foundations of our social contract, and how do we renew it? The Covid-19 crisis has revealed the desire, need, and capacity for change in the general public and governments. In the past, the social contract has allowed us to translate tensions into opportunities around which we…