Trust is regarded as one of the strongest assets of the Nordic countries. However, as global trust declines, similar trends can be expected in the Nordics. The foundations of the Nordic welfare model are strained in an unpredictable global environment where autocratisation and warfare is on the rise.

The increase of polarisation and unequal distribution of wealth are also world-wide trends that could come to influence Nordic welfare policies and, in the end, the levels of trust in the population.   At the same time, demographic and environmental challenges are pressing the Nordics. Birth rates are declining, populations ageing, and the impacts of the climate crisis is becoming more evident also in the Nordic region.  

Against this backdrop, the Nordic Welfare Forum 2025 convened in Helsinki, Finland, on 10 September 2025. The agenda was ambitious enough: to explore how trust in the Nordic welfare model could be preserved and enhanced in the face of global change. The conference brought together politicians, researchers, civil servants, and representatives of civil society from across the Nordic region. 

The Nordic Welfare Forum 2025 was organised by the Nordic Welfare Centre in co-operation with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health in Finland, on behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers.