Onni Pekonen

Who? 

Onni works as a Specialist on the New Forms of Participation project, which is part of the Democracy and Participation theme. The project develops new forms of participation for people to support representative democracy. 

What? 

Onni has wide experience in democracy and its development as a researcher and a civil servant. He has a Doctor of Social Sciences degree, having specialised in democratic institutions, operating methods and concepts. He has worked at universities in Finland and abroad, as well as on development tasks for the EU Presidency and state administration.

Onni likes to review current phenomena from an international and historical point of view. He is a keen follower of parliamentary democracy, but his view is that the traditional forms of representative democracy need new and diverse forms of participation to go alongside them.

What else? 

In his leisure time, Onni relaxes best with music, running after different kinds of balls and watching birds.