Collaboration

The Helsinki Hub on Emotions Populism and Polarisation (HEPPsinki) takes a cultural approach to populism, studying mobilisation in space and through time, humour, ressentiment and resilience in multiple externally funded projects. HEPP offers a point of contact for scholars both in Helsinki and abroad. The hub enables collaboration between researchers in different projects, and welcomes new projects and initiatives to its umbrella.

The HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences has launched the MORES project, a three-year research initiative funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme, to address how society can cope with divisive political rhetoric and foster rational deliberation. By examining the role of moral emotions – such as anger, pride, and shame – in shaping political identities and societal dynamics, the project aims to provide resources that strengthen democracy and counteract divisive politics. MORES involves a consortium of nine European organisations, with HUN-REN CSS leading the effort.

Climate change challenges welfare states, such as Finland, to change their practices. How do we steer that transition? The ORSI project investigates fair and robust methods to make Finland environmentally sustainable. The project invites key decision makers, citizens and businesses around the same table to develop solutions together. The ORSI project is funded by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland.

PLEDGE is a Horizon Europe funded project focusing on the emotional dynamics of political grievances and their implications for democratic politics. The PLEDGE project engages researchers, policymakers, and citizens in a collective effort to better understand citizens’ emotions and develop practices and tools that promote emotionally responsive democratic governance and political communication, and foster pro-democratic forms of civic engagement.

MERGE is an innovative Horizon Europe funded project aimed at integrating wellbeing, inclusion, and sustainability indicators into policy. MERGE builds on the scientific work of recently launched Horizon Europe and European Research Council grants (WISE Horizons, SPES, ToBe, REAL) to create synergies between these projects and improve knowledge on indicators beyond GDP, alternative and more sustainable policy options, and scenarios for a sustainable future.

Nets4Dem is a network of networks, creating a hub for collaboration and advanced research in the field of democratic innovation, civic deliberation, participation, and citizenship education.

Nets4Dem unites policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to strengthen our joint capacity to implement innovative democracy initiatives at local, national, and European levels.

The EU-funded research project PROTEMO brings together eight international institutions to enhance our understanding of how emotions matter for policy-making in an age of misinformation and insecurity. The project examines what role emotions play in the context of ‘protective policies’, and what this means for the democratic systems. PROTEMO is coordinated by Saarland University in Germany.

EXPRESS2 offers an innovative response to the EU and global calls for a new, democratic, inclusive, and sustainable social contract to address inequality and other disruptive elements, mitigating political instability and uncertainty for millions in the EU. The aim of the project is to move from tacit approval to the express approval of the EU social contract by recognising individuals and institutions as contractual parties who can express their opinions on the contract’s content, rights, and obligations.