Topic
Society
Commentary
How do societies make most of the extraordinary good luck of ever-longer life expectancies? How can nations be strategic as they manage the huge demographic shifts of the years ahead? How do we handle the transition of care needed over the next few decades? Demos Helsinki Fellow, Sir Geoff Mulgan, is unpacking these questions below in a personal and cross-functional account.
When trying to measure and predict human behavior, data must be enriched with ideas and emotions. The case of COVID-19 showed the limits of quantitative methods, as expert echo chambers were unable to translate the data into conversations that could ultimately lead to action. By Angeliki Vourdaki
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…
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,…
Publications
Public debate in Finland suggests that care is in crisis, but “crisis” and a fixation on resourcing care services do not capture the full picture of why and how our need for care has changed and how we can meet that need. This publication by Demos Helsinki identifies that the care crisis signals the need for a care transition in which care cannot be confined to industrial frameworks.
How can an organization or a society become wiser? This paper by Demos Helsinki Fellow Geoff Mulgan shares some answers with a framework that cuts across different disciplines, including philosophy, psychology, computer science and organisational design.
We find it easy to imagine apocalypse and disaster; or to imagine new generations of technology. But we find it much harder than in the past to imagine a better society a generation or more into the future. In this paper, Demos Helsinki Fellow Geoff Mulgan sets out thoughts on what, how, and who to address this gap.
Projects
Demos Helsinki has partnered with a consortium of researchers to identify the ideas, structures and collaborations needed to manage future health crises in a project called WELGO. The WELGO project is funded by the PANDEMICS programme of the Finnish Strategic Research Council. Within WELGO, Demos Helsinki conducts scientific research together…
People
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…
Kelly Yen
If you find yourself curious about emerging technologies and their societal impact, Kelly would be a great person to talk to! While engineers accelerate the world into the future with groundbreaking innovations, it’s people like Kelly that’s working on bridging the gap between social sciences and STEM to ensure that…
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.