The report "Trust – the Nordic Gold" concerns social trust in the Nordic countries. The Nordic region has the highest levels of social trust in the world. This benefits the economy, individuals and society as a whole. This report discusses the background to why social trust has reached such high levels in the Nordic region, and the present-day challenges it is facing.
Inspired by a Nordic Council of Ministers´ report, the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia has conducted a project that consisted of a series of events on the importance of trust in society, where a number of Nordic and Latvian experts took part. The report was translated into Latvian and Russian.
- In December 2018, the author of the report Ulf Andreasson from the NCM Policy Analysis and Statistics Department visited Latvia and took part in several presentations and discussions on the topic at Stockholm School of Economics in Riga and at Daugavpils University. He also gave a TV interview on the subject of trust for the Latvian Television.
- In June 2018 NCM Office was present at conversation festival LAMPA with a discussion panel on social trust “Trust – the Nordic Gold”. The interactive discussion went back to the roots of social trust in the Nordic countries and its impact on society and economy while exploring the possibilities for raising the levels of trust in Latvia. The event was jointly developed by the social anthropologist PhD Agnese Cimdiņa (Latvia), Professor of Political Science Peter Thisted Dinesen (Denmark), Vice President in Sales and Business Development at Neste Jacobs in the United Arab Emirates Oskar Rautiainen (Finland), Head of International Projects’ Unit at the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities Elita Cakule (Norway) and a Lutheran pastor and teacher of Christian mediation and mindfulness Indulis Paičs (Latvia).
- In March 2019 the open lecture «How can you increase trust in government?» by professor Jón Ólafsson from the University of Iceland was held at Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga). Jón Olafsson has written a report commissioned by the Icelandic government on restoring trust in Iceland. Besides speaking at an open seminar on trust at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, he was received by the vice-speaker of the Latvian Parliament and the State Chancellery. This indicates the importance of the discussion on trust in society in general, and on the governmental level in particular, in today´s Latvia. An interview with professor Olafsson was recorded by Latvian Television.
- In March 2019 the second event with the participation of Ulf Andreasson, the author of the NCM report “Trust – the Nordic Gold” was the discussion seminar «Trust - Cornerstone of Development» organised by the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments, State Chancellery and the European Parliament´s office in Latvia. He was the keynote speaker at the seminar. During his visit, a seminar was also organised at the Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences in Valmiera.
- During the conversation festival LAMPA in June 2019, several Nordic experts took part in panel discussions related to trust. One such panel discussion arranged by NCM LV and lead by social anthropologist Agnese Cimdiņa was dedicated to diversity management Difference as competence: How to unlock diversity potential in organisations, where the Norwegian writer and expert Loveleen Rihel Brenna took part together with the Mayor of Cēsis Jānis Rozenbergs, the Director of the Clarion Collection Hotel Valdemars Lennart Rasmussen-Lagnehag and Group HR partner at the -AS Swedbank Alise Rupeka. Several interviews with Loveleen Rihel Brenna was published - IR NAUDA and DIENA
- The last event was a seminar organised by the State Chancellery of Latvia in January 2020. The presentation «Values in Public Administration» was given by professor Lars Johannsen from Aarhus University. He also gave the TV interview for Latvian Televisions programme "Worlds Panorama".
