Finland, where are you headed...
Blog 0What will top the trend and phenomena charts in 2013 and help Sitra and its partners shape the future?
Finland is leaving behind the thinking of the industrial era and moving towards a human-oriented society. How will this affect future democracy?
Take the general public, dynamic internet usage, new social movements and the government - what will society be like when they all come to work together?
We've set thirty people the task of answering an ambitious question:
What will vital democracy be like in the 2010s?
Throughout the project, the participants will put their thoughts into a wiki which will be updated on this page. First entries available in December.
The word 'synergy' implies energy, interaction, dynamics and the interest in new ideas. Synergy is created when people get active, creative, proactive and enthusiastic. Sitra's Synergise Finland development programme looks for solutions to today's challenges from these perspectives. The first forum was held in spring 2011, focusing on the concept of new work. The second forum is addressing the idea of new democracy.
Sitra believes that cooperation across traditional social borders, discussion and active work towards common goals promote and renew Finland's powers of synergy. The Synergise Finland development programme brings together people who look at issues from very different viewpoints; this is a good starting point for finding tangible solutions and feasible ideas. The programme is a combination of a brainstorming workshop and practical work.
The first Synergise Finland forum took place in spring 2011. The New Democracy forum launched in late 2011 and continues into 2012. Each forum has 20–30 participants, who are invited and selected through an open application process.
Within the development programme, a wiki environment is used to create thoughts on the greatest challenges of Finnish democracy today, the solutions that could be used to respond to the challenges, and the essence of new democracy. Thinking is not, however, enough; the participants also produce tangible suggestions for the development of democracy. The suggestions will be tested during spring 2012 and the most feasible ones will be put into practice.
During the work of the forum, participants add their views on the challenges of democracy into the content flow of the New Democracy site.
Use the link below to log into the Etherpad, which is used as a common environment for forum work. Please contact us if you have difficulties logging in. All Etherpad entries will be published on the New Democracy site after processing.
Common memo for the New democracy working group
During December and January, ideas and information concerning any ongoing democracy and participation projects are gathered using an open invitation to participate. You can freely respond to the invitation with an idea that is in a very early stage of development; what is important is to have all the thoughts available to be used as a basis for tangible solutions to the challenge posed by new democracy.
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