Demos Helsinki is a non-profit, independent think tank based in Helsinki, Finland and founded in 2005. It grew from a small community of urbanists and democracy experts into a team of around 70 specialists as of 2025. The organisation is owned by its employees through the association Demos ry, which enables staff to influence its direction and leadership. Its headquarters are in Helsinki, though its project partners and collaborators are international.
From the outset, Demos Helsinki focused on research and policy work aimed at addressing major societal transitions, initially in urban sustainability, but later expanding to broader challenges related to governance, democracy, and environmental policy. It gained early recognition for its experimental approaches, such as contributing to Finland’s universal basic income experiment and developing sustainability frameworks for the city of Helsinki. Examples of current or recent projects include advising Paris’s RATP Group on sustainable public transit and collaborating on European research programs about the societal impacts of technology and democratic innovation.
The organisation’s methods combine research, foresight, and co-creation with governments, cities, civil society, and businesses. Its internal structure promotes horizontal coordination and democratic decision-making. Demos Helsinki’s teams are multidisciplinary, including social scientists, engineers, designers, and policy experts. The think tank remains project-funded, without direct party or corporate affiliations, and aims to build practical tools, policy models, and partnerships to support societal change in both Finnish and global contexts.