Honesty and openness: key conditions for building social trust named at the Symposium
At the II International Symposium "Inventing the Future" held at the National Centre RUSSIA on 8 October, a panel discussion titled "Trust as a Resource for Strategic Development" was held, organised jointly with the Public Opinion Foundation. Participants explored which approaches help strengthen trust in society and what measures should be taken today.
Trust is the foundation of the state — without it, the political system collapses, noted Alexander Kharichev, Head of the Presidential Directorate for Monitoring and Analysis of Social Processes of the Russian Federation. According to him, Russia has undergone significant changes in recent years: since 2018, the level of trust in the President of Russia has risen to 80%, and the level of trust in regional leaders has exceeded 50%.
"Trust is fundamental — without it, there can be no political system when we speak about domestic policy. We have developed a formula that determines society’s trust in public officials. It consists of four components: honesty, capability, motivation, and distance from citizens. The numerator includes honesty, capability, and motivation, while the denominator represents distance. This means that an official must be sincere, keep promises, and minimise the distance from the public," said Alexander Kharichev.
Trust enables more effective social connections, emphasised Artem Metelev, Chair of the State Duma Committee on Youth Policy and Chair of the Dobro.rf Association Council.
"Trust is about security and confidence in the future — when a person understands that interacting with others is more beneficial and meaningful than avoiding it. Trust boosts the economy and helps establish efficient processes in any field. In this sense, volunteering is a powerful factor of trust. People engaged in volunteer work have a higher level of trust — they know that even strangers can be reliable. Participation in volunteering transforms not only individuals but also helps form a new society," said Artem Metelev.
It is also important to consider that communication largely depends on subconscious perception, which must be taken into account when building trust, said Olga Galaktionova, Director of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts.
"The main enemy of trust is formalism, and culture illustrates this best. You can write a thousand reviews claiming that a film or a play is a masterpiece, but you cannot deceive the audience. An ordinary viewer doesn’t analyse lighting or staging — they either feel it or they don’t. That is why our task as representatives of culture is to create projects sincerely and with meaning," said Olga Galaktionova.
Today, audiences have a strong demand for sincerity — both in reading news and in cinema, noted Alexei Goreslavsky, Director General of ANO "Internet Development Institute". In his view, high ratings cannot be achieved through pathos; what’s needed are truthful and authentic portrayals of heroes and characters.
Deputy Director General of ANO "Dialogue Regions" Andrei Tsepelev stressed that the system of openness established in Russia can be considered one of the most advanced in the world.
"Openness forms the basis of trust. In Russia, the system of openness is the most developed in the world. Almost all governors, mayors, and district heads maintain personal pages where they share updates on their work daily, and all public institutions have social media accounts. Nowhere else does such a large-scale system of interaction between government and citizens exist. Moreover, Russia is a techno-optimistic country: according to various surveys, 60–80% of people believe that new technologies improve life and are ready to use them. For instance, remote electronic voting has become the norm within just a few years — eight million people used this opportunity during the presidential election. I am confident that the high level of trust in the state and new technologies is a competitive advantage of our country," said Andrei Tsepelev.
The session was moderated by Larisa Pautova, Managing Director of the Public Opinion Foundation.
The II International Symposium "Inventing the Future" was held on 7 — 8 October at the National Centre RUSSIA, bringing together participants more than 85 countries. The event gathered more than 260 Russian and international experts from China, the United States, Italy, Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The programme included around 50 sessions — both for specialists and for the general public. The full programme and livestreams of the events are available on the website.
The International Symposium "Inventing the Future" was organised on the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, under the aegis of the Decade of Science and Technology in Russia, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. The analytical partner was the VCIOM Analytical Centre, and the literary partner was the Eksmo-AST Publishing Group.
Event photobank
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