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Summary

Security and Trust

The National Dialogues in spring 2024 discussed the experiences of insecurity, security and trust people living in Finland. 111 Dialogues were held across Finland, including 35 Future Dialogues organized jointly by the Prime Minister’s Office and the Timeout Foundation as part of preparing the Government Report on the Future. The 1130 participants came from different social groups, cultural backgrounds, and professions. They ranged in age from five-year-olds pre-schoolers to participants in their nineties.

National dialogues: increased insecurity and uncertainty experienced by citizens

National dialogues discussed experiences of insecurity, security and trust. The dialogues highlighted the growing sense of insecurity, but also ways to strengthen security and trust.

More than 100 national dialogues were organised in different parts of Finland, with 1,130 participants from different social groups, cultural backgrounds and occupations. The ages of the participants varied from five to ninety years.

Based on the discussions, people’s experiences of security and trust are affected most by everyday circumstances, experiences of the availability and functioning of services, and fairness in society and decision-making.

Key conclusions from the dialogues in spring 2024: 

  1. The sense of insecurity experienced by citizens has increased. This is particularly reflected in weaker trust in society’s safety nets and predictability of one’s own life. Support for loved ones is increasingly important, but lack of support puts people in an unequal position.
  1. Insecurity and the uncertainty it generates affect many different areas of life simultaneously. For example, problems related to income and employment, access to services and the physical and digital environment may, when accumulated, have a significant impact on the uncertainty experienced by people.
  1. Trust can be strengthened in many ways, such as by supporting others in coping with everyday life, strengthening communality and highlighting positive images of the future. Decision-makers and administration should take citizens’ experiences and everyday circumstances into account in decision-making better than at present.

National dialogues are a series of discussions that are open to all. The dialogues produce experiential information on changes in Finnish society and supplement the information provided by various surveys and studies. Public sector decision-makers and developers use the information from the dialogues in their own work.

Additional information:

Ira Alanko, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Finance tel. 029 5530 353, ira.alanko (at) gov.fi

Kai Alhanen, Director, dialogue Academy, tel. 040 5720 213, kai.alhanen (at) aretai.org

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