Trust and societal security

We deepen understanding of the relationship between trust and security and build a shared view of the roles different actors play in producing security at both national and local levels.

We convene key stakeholders to co-create situational awareness and future outlooks on the development of a trust-based society, using foresight, societal innovation and potentially funding as tools.

Our goal is for Finland to maintain strong trust and security into the future – and for societal cohesion, resilience and conflict resolution capacity to grow stronger.

In late autumn, we will host the Societal Security Futures Forum – a stakeholder process co-organised by Sitra, the Ministry of the Interior and the University of Helsinki. The forum aims to build a timely and comprehensive situational picture of societal security through three subthemes: psychological crisis resilience, sustainable information environments, and the role of institutions as trust enablers. The insights will be published in 2026.

In our foresight review published in spring 2025, we noted that Finland is well-positioned to safeguard societal functionality, preparedness and continuity amid challenges, crises and surprises.

However, in an era of hybrid operations, uncertainty and intensifying geopolitics, many security threats affect citizens and organisations in new ways. The transformation of the media and information environment amplifies this trend and introduces new means to destabilise the foundations of a trust-based society. There is no return to the “old normal” – so we must ask: how do trust, resilience and societal security take shape now and in the future?

Societal security is not built solely on official preparedness or crisis response. Its foundation is trust – in each other, in institutions, in Finnish democracy and in our shared future.

When trust falters, the basis of comprehensive security weakens. We need better foresight and trust-enhancing societal innovations to strengthen cohesion and ease tensions that fuel polarisation.

We collaborate with the Ministry of the Interior and the University of Helsinki. The stakeholder process in autumn 2025 will bring together around 50 actors from across society.