Democratic Innovations

We support the public sector in widely adopting the best tools and methods for citizen engagement and public consultation that strengthen decision-making capabilities. They help resolve difficult societal issues and strengthen public trust in decisions and the decision-making process.

Democratic Innovations programme

Democratic decision-making is now being challenged by many factors: economic constraints, growing social inequality, rapid technological change and cross-border crises. Finland’s ability to survive and thrive in these times depends largely on how well our decision-making system can respond to the daunting challenges of the current environment.

Our Democratic Innovations programme will help Finland’s public sector succeed in this endeavour. We support public administration in adopting the best tools and methods to strengthen decision-making capabilities, which in turn help make and implement difficult societal decisions. At the same time, this strengthens public trust in the decisions being made.

Between 2022 and 2025, we carried out more than 100 pilot projects on democratic innovations at various levels of government in collaboration with our partners. Examples of democratic innovations include the digital participation platform Voxit and deliberative citizen panels.

The focus of the Democratic Innovations programme is now shifting from the development and testing of individual tools to their systematic and strategic implementation. Finland has a great deal of valuable expertise in engaging the public, but we need to make better use of it in our decision-making on critical issues.

Digital assistant for consultation and preparation

The Consultation and Preparation Assistant supports government officials in engaging citizens and stakeholders and consulting them at various stages of the preparation and decision-making process. This AI-powered digital tool provides practical support in preparing various projects and engaging citizens.

The future of work-based immigration

This year, a large number of Finns and Finnish residents will be invited to take part in a discussion on the future of work-based immigration. This broad, multi-method public engagement process, carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, combines three forms of participation to support policy preparation on work-based immigration: national dialogues, the Voxit discussion, and a deliberative citizens’ assembly.

The citizen-generated data and policy recommendations collected through the process will be compiled into a broader knowledge base on work-based immigration. In spring 2027, the complete set of data will be made available to parliamentary parties and, more broadly, decision-makers and actors in public administration.

Effective interaction in green investments

Often, simply adopting a new technology does not lead to improved productivity. The reasons are both human and structural. The operating model developed by Sitra shifts the focus from technology adoption to operational and managerial change. This model helps to ensure that investments in data and artificial intelligence deliver on their promises.

Lue lisää projektista