Topic
Society
Commentary
I spent the past week in Dar es Salaam teaching scenario thinking to the Tanzanian Planning Commission, Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology (MCST), and several regional leaders. The visit was part of the TANZICT project, a bilateral collaboration between the MCST and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland….
Startup scene is getting more diverse – it’s no longer only about games and mobile apps. Themes like health, education and resource smart living offer practically an endless demand for solutions. This is visible also at Slush which has a big focus on impact this year. Demos Helsinki is going…
Demos Helsinki researcher Maria Ritola guest authors in the Näkökulma (transl. point of view) blog of the Finnish trading sector giant Kesko this week. Ritola’s text explores the new business opportunities arising around sustainable lifestyles. According to a new study by the communications agency Futerra 80% of business executives believe…
Last spring Demos Helsinki worked on a report concerning locality and local value. Our approach was to map out the theory and examples of the relationships between locality and the local media, and by organising a workshop in Tampere. A group of influential regional actors from businesses, municipalities, universities and…
The yearly Computer-Supported Cooperative Work Conference organised in Baltimore in mid-February was a goldmine of state-of-the-art research that crosses the boundaries of the social sciences and information technology. I spoke about a current project that examines the networked hospitality exchange fostered by the Airbnb concept: Account sharing in the context…
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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Health 2050: How Finland will make the most out of its aging population and what other nations can learn from it
June 10, 2015
The Nordic think tank Demos Helsinki’s new Health 2050 scenario report looks at how hidden resources in society and in human beings can be better utilised to tackle wicked problems in health. Populations in Western countries are aging fast and governments are now faced with increasing healthcare costs, especially in Finland: How can perceived health be doubled without…