Welcome to the Social Policy Days in Helsinki, 23–24 October 2025, to discuss and reflect with us on the role of trust in the welfare state transformation.
Trust is the foundation of any society. It influences relations between people, social groups, and the functioning of political systems and institutions. But what does trust mean in times marked by uncertainty, polarization, and societal change? During the conference, we will examine trust from various perspectives: public opinion, the legitimacy of the welfare state, institutional practices. We invite participants to reflect on how social policy research can help us understand the significance and challenges of trust today.
We hope the workshops will spark diverse discussions on current topics in social and public policy research. We welcome proposals, for example (but not limited to), in the following areas: Social security and service systems, education and housing policy, environmental issues and sustainable development, digitalization and technological transformations of the welfare state, inequality, societal institutions, reforms, and ideologies.
We particularly encourage proposals addressing the conference theme of "trust," but welcome all relevant and timely proposals in the fields of social and public policy.
Workshop proposals should be 250–300 words long. The proposal should clearly state the workshop’s description and theme, key questions, and the chair(s). Please also include your contact details (institution and email address).
This year, the conference will be preceded by a Doctoral Researchers' Seminar (22–23 October), organized in collaboration with the Nordic ESPAnet Network. Therefore, we hope that workshops are open for operating in English and Finnish, to enable the international audience of the seminar to participate in discussions during the conference. The working language of each workshop (Finnish, Swedish, English) can be confirmed based on the accepted abstracts and the participants' preferences.
Information on accepted workshop proposals will be announced in June 2025.
Please submit your workshop proposal via the application form below (Lyyti.fi) by 26th May 2025.