Changing Society and Active Citizenship (CITIZEN)

Citizens’ opportunities to participate in society’s functions and influence the decisions that concern them have changed. The new methods of governance and the changing opportunities for citizen participation create a need to assess how and where people can influence matters that concern them. To facilitate this assessment, we need broad expertise and an in-depth understanding of political systems in a global context. The amount and nature of available data are changing. At the same time, there is increasing differentiation in knowledge bases, which may lead to one-sidedness and exclusion.

The SRC Programme Changing Society and Active Citizenship (CITIZEN) sheds light on information needs and the challenges posed by global change to the functioning and stability of the Finnish political system. The research conducted under the programme will identify answers and solutions to respond to the need for greater awareness of political systems in the context of the increasingly international operating environment. The objective is also to foresee changes in a way that improves capabilities for bringing political institutions and citizens closer together, reinforcing engagement in the democratic process as well as increasing mutual trust between demographic groups and confidence in public institutions. The research teams will identify and develop the necessary procedures for reconciling the fast pace of policy-making with the long-term approach required by social reforms.

Projects

Tackling Biases and Bubbles in Participation (BIBU)

Consortium PI: Anu Kantola, University of Helsinki
Responsible for interaction activities: Anna Björk, Demos Helsinki

Consortium composition: University of Helsinki, Demos Helsinki, ETLA Economic Research, Tampere University, Finnish Insitute for Health and Welfare, University of Turku, Stanford University

Participation in Long-Term Decision-Making (PALO)

Consortium PI: Maija Setälä, University of Turku
Responsible for interaction activities: Henri Vogt, University of Turku

Consortium composition: University of Turku, Tampere University, Natural Resources Institute Finland, Åbo Akademi University

Collaborative Remedies for Fragmented Societies (CORE)

Consortium PI: Lasse Peltonen, University of Eastern Finland
Responsible for Interaction activities: Maija Faehnle, Finnish Environment Institute

Consortium composition: Finnish Environment Institute, Tampere University, University of Jyväskylä, Hanken School of Economics, University of Eastern Finland, Linnunmaa Oy

More information

  • Programme Director Kaisa Korhonen-Kurki, Senior Research Scientist, Docent, University of Helsinki, kaisa.korhonen(at)syke.fi

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