Topic
Sustainability & climate action
Commentary
The winners of the Finnish final of ClimateLaunchpad, the largest climate innovation competition in Europe, are the newly founded startups Nanomaji, Loadbro and Tuup. 1. Nanomaji has created a water filter which allows for water to be consumed without it having to be boiled first. The burning of charcoal…
The post has originally been published in Kesko Group’s Responsibility blog. An ad on the front page of a newspaper touts easy seasonal treats, strawberries and blueberries. In May. The soft spot of Finns is exploited early. Who doesn’t have a flutter in their heart, looking forward to the first new…
Publications
What if green skills were more than technical expertise? The Green Skills Radar helps Finnish organisations integrate transformative mindsets and leadership into sustainability strategies. With tools for skill assessments and practical recommendations, it guides teams to navigate change, fostering adaptability and collaboration for a successful green transition.
In a world racing towards new carbon-neutral innovations, how can companies in the wood-product industry maintain their competitive edge? This research agenda highlights how the wood industry can seize opportunities in the sustainability transition through innovation and research. By prioritizing long-life products and collaboration across sectors, Finnish companies can lead the way to a path of strong sustainability.
A group of motivated cities and municipalities in Finland joined a one-year problem-solving journey to address the numerous interrelated challenges that slow down sustainable city transition. Demos Helsinki coordinated the subgroup, which focused on the “challenge bundle” of urban planning.
Projects
The project supports Ukrainian municipalities in their pursuit of climate neutrality amidst rebuilding efforts. Together with leading EU and Ukrainian partners, including city networks, research organisations and urban stakeholders, Demos Helsinki supports this project by providing arenas for sharing knowledge and testing new methods for engaging citizens and other stakeholders in these processes.
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.
The ongoing biodiversity crisis demonstrates that we need better ways to live with nature in cities. The MUST project, employing a multispecies transition lens, aims to enhance the understanding and visibility of multispecies needs. This, in turn, will foster improved deliberation and action among stakeholders.
People
Anna Kurth
How can we reimagine city life within planetary boundaries? What governance tools and capabilities are needed to drive this transition? These are the questions that fuel Anna’s work at the intersection of urban climate policy and systems change. Anna has a BA in International Affairs from the University of St….
Janne Sala
Whether the topic is strengthening democratic participation or finding ways to reorganize food production chains, Janne is a rising expert in the intersection of developing societal change and climate resilience. They combine their academic education in the social sciences with sharp and international political networking to harness a global skillset…
Roosa Laakso
As part of the Regerative Localities team at Demos Helsinki, Roosa applies her expertise in multidisciplinary collaboration and sustainability governance expertise in practice. Roosa has a background in the public sector and has previously worked with the national and international implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals at the Prime…
Meri Külm
Democratic engagement and life within planetary boundaries are among the topics that you will find Meri working with. As a generalist with an academic background in sociology, they combine the analytical rigour of a researcher with the drive of an activist. Her mission? To create a joyful future that starts…
Sofia Suomalainen
Sofia is here to help you to navigate sustainability challenges with creative and practical approaches. With a background in arts and business, she combines her passion for transformative initiatives with a strategic mindset. Her ability to organise and collaborate ensures that projects achieve optimal outcomes. Currently, Sofia works as an…
Lina Forsman
De Bruxelles à Helsinki! Lina is our expert on multilevel governance from a city perspective. In her previous role, she ensured that cities’ viewpoints were considered in the EU legislative process. Focusing on the climate transition and legislation to tackle pollution in cities, she has drafted and executed numerous advocacy…
Janne Rinne
Janne is a sustainability enthusiast with extensive experience in environmental policy, sustainability transformation, and project management. Janne’s background is a mix of research and hands-on innovation projects. Working as a researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute, he acquired a broad perspective on environmental policy and governance. At the innovation company…
Salla Kässi
In a world full of information, knowledge brokers and communicators are needed to make scientific knowledge stand out and have an impact. This is what Salla strives for as an expert on science communication and societal interaction. In her work, she enjoys making people think, discuss, and thrive while making…
Sinianna Kuosmanen
Sinianna is an expert in sustainable value creation, especially interested in the interplay between businesses and societies. Focusing on enhancing organizations’ agency within the sustainability transformation, She serves as our go-to guru for navigating the landscapes of corporate sustainability. With a firm belief that sustainability must be approached holistically, Sinianna…
Mariela Urra Schiaffino
Design isn’t just about building objects, it’s also about building a future, and, for Mariela, it’s all about a sustainable one. Through utilising tools of design, imagination, and creativity, she reimagines societal relations to nature. These new perspectives are vital to building a sustainable future for all. Design is an…
Emilia Ståhlhammar
Emilia Ståhlhammar is a passionate professional working with both research and consultative projects at Demos Helsinki. With a deep curiosity and a strong sense of empathy, she is particularly interested in organizational transformations toward circular and regenerative practices. Emilia has previously worked with startups and large corporations, focusing on sustainability….
Liisa Perjo
Liisa is a social scientist who is interested in what it takes to bring European cities into the planetary boundaries in a just and inclusive way. In her work, she analyses, but also practically supports, planning, policy and practices for collective action towards just and sustainable climate transitions. Before joining…
Yu-Yi Huynh
How can citizen engagement transform cities? If you’re searching for the answer, no need to look further: Yu-Yi is here to help! Her knowledge of citizen engagement processes and participation is sought after. Justice in climate action is something we value deeply and Yu-Yi is an expert in its implementation…
Johannes Klein
Johannes is our experienced climate change adaptation researcher. With a special focus on the governance of adaptation in an urban and regional context, he knows how to find pathways to sustainable and resilient communities through academic research. He is inspired to contribute in just, transformative, and inclusive adaptation action. Being…
Bhuvana Sekar
Bhuvana works as as an expert contributing to the Nordic Baukultur project and other strategic initiatives. She specialises in participatory design, human computer interaction, service design, and uses them as lenses to clarify her passions in the realms of public-sector, digital technologies, governance and social change transformations. In parallel, Bhuvana…
Oya Duman
Do you ever find yourself thinking about how to mobilise various stakeholders to achieve fair, sustainable, and joyful cities of the future? Oya sure does! She seamlessly integrates her professional background in architecture with a keen research focus on collaborative urban planning processes. Thanks to this, she really knows her…
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…
Seona Candy
Seona is leading the cross-cutting theme of socio-ecological justice and just transitions at Demos Helsinki. This involves not only how to collaboratively imagine sustainable and equitable futures, but also how to design, implement and monitor transitions to ensure the way to get there is fair, legitimate and socially just. Seona…
Lilybell Evergreen
Lilybell is our go-to climate governance expert. We all know the need for a sustainable future but there are not many pathways to reach it. Governance, however, offers one and Lilybell knows how to utilise this. Having worked with several European cities, including the City of Tallinn, the European Green…
Jenni Kilpi
To interact and connect – this is Jenni’s pathway to change. Whether it’s renewing a strategy, building an impact roadmap, mapping out future scenarios, or evaluating engagement processes, the key is building inclusive and empowering engagement and agency. Incidentally, this intersection is where Jenni shines. We cherish her ability to…
Beatriz Vasconcellos
Beatriz is a hands-on idealist who strongly believes in the government’s capacity to lead better societal outcomes. She works at the Transformative Governance team at Demos Helsinki, where she collectively tackles the challenge of making governments more resilient, and agents of systemic change. Her work work Ranges from reimagining new…
Erkki Perälä
Did you know that cities account for over 70% of global emissions? Erkki sure does, which is why he works on supporting the decarbonisation of several European cities. He is especially intrigued by connecting the narratives of climate change and the built environment, and finds cities a practically-sized unit to…
Iacopo Gronchi
Iacopo is our go-to expert in mission management. Societal transformations are changing the playing field of public governance. Public sector organisations are called on to reflect on the very purpose of their work: in other words, on their mission. That’s why Iacopo’s own mission is to help public managers achieve…
Kari Jalonen
Kari Jalonen is an organisational researcher whose work at Demos Helsinki focuses on planning, performing and developing the research operations at Demos Helsinki. Kari defended his Ph.D.(Econ.) on city strategy at the Hanken School of Economics in 2017, and has since worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University and…
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…
Atte Ojanen
Atte is in charge of coordinating Demos Helsinki’s European research funding to enable societal transformation. As a research manager, he is your go-to-person in Horizon Europe and other research collaboration matters. Atte’s own research centers on societal effects of emerging technology, the ethics of AI, and deliberative democracy. Atte is…
Veikko Eranti
We take great pride in our academic work. We believe changing the world requires high-quality academic research and have vastly expanded our own academic work. But academia has its own set of codes, and ensuring our work is relevant and meets the highest standards is our very own Veikko. He…
Silva Mertsola
Public administrations are tasked with finding effective and efficacious solutions to complex societal challenges. Simultaneously, they must ensure that their processes are legitimate. Silva supports governments in aligning their governance arrangements with these demands. Silva is a doctoral researcher in political theory at the University of Stockholm where she studies…
Eedla Sofia Rahikainen
As an expert of socio-ecological justice, Eedla strives for equal and prosperous societies for all. We need to transform many of our old ways of inhabiting this planet but in a manner that is fair and where everyone’s voice is being heard. In order to achieve this objective, Eedla is…
Vincent Lassalle
Vincent is a senior expert in the New Governance Team. He has been a practitioner, a consultant, and a writer on the topic of organisational innovation and societal change for over a decade. Prior to joining Demos Helsinki, Vincent’s already international career focused on innovation and spanned most of its…
Kaisa Schmidt-Thomé
Kaisa works with one foot in the practical, one in research. She is our in-house Docent, i.e, Adjunct Professor in Strategic Planning for Urban Sustainability at Tampere University. She is happy to be on-call on this topic and on anything related to regenerative, joyful cities. Kaisa is not a fan…
Otto-Wille Koste
Otto-Wille is a senior expert in the Regenerative Infrastructure Team. He focuses on cities’ sustainability transformations. Cities are under constant change opposed by various phenomena, and Otto-Wille develops processes and solutions with which cities and other actors in the urban sphere can foster required transformations. Otto-Wille holds a master’s degree…
Mikael Sokero
Connecting the needs of the future and the present is easier said than done, and Mikael knows that. Through years of experience, we are proud to say Mikael has truly conquered the art of strategic foresight. No wonder his expertise is in high demand. We strongly believe foresight plays a…
Aleksi Neuvonen
Aleksi Neuvonen is a recognised expert and thinker on understanding the change (and unchange) of societies and organisations. Aleksi holds PhD honors from Tampere University and Radboud University Nijmegen. During his career, Aleksi has published over 30 reports, books or academic articles, focusing primarily on methods and tools for transformative…
Satu Lähteenoja
Satu’s expertise lies in sustainability transformations, especially sustainable development, circular economy, 1.5-degree lifestyles and environmental policies. She is an experienced researcher and consultant with more than 15 years of experience in transdisciplinary topics, including co-creating future visions and transition pathways as well as supporting different organisations with their sustainability journeys….
Mikko Annala
We are a think tank with a mission. As the Managing Director, Mikko is responsible for our operations. Our organisation runs 100+ projects every year in 30+ countries. Mikko’s job is to ensure that, on our part, we manage to contribute to the global landscape and remain joyful while doing…
Juha Leppänen
It’s easy to talk the talk, but we take pride in also walking the walk. And ensuring that this happens is our very own Juha. How to build operational hypotheses to truly drive change forward? What is the “form” in “transformation”? How to organize collective action? Juha isn’t afraid to…
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
Foresight is not just a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have for strengthening your societal relevance in a complex world.
Sustainable growth replaced the welfare state
January 12, 2016
In the future the years 2013-2015 will most likely be referred to as a turning point in Finnish political history. Before this time, the crux of the political consensus was in maintaining the welfare state, whereas after this point it will been seen as building sustainable growth. Demos Helsinki has analysed the recent…