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Restoring trust is essential to achieving lasting recovery and social stability. What can we do to get back on track? How to rebuild strong governments, quality decision-making and effective policy implementation? What actions can the private sector take? Can the remedies be applied fast enough?

Citizens need to be confident that their governments are capable of implementing smart policies, ensuring transparent and stable (financial) regulation and improving tax compliance. Both, the public and private sectors, must tackle corruption and bring abuses of the system to an end.

We also need to foster greater openness, integrity, and accountability. Building on these values, a key priority must be to strengthen dialogue between governments and citizens. Social movements such as Occupy Wall Street, or Indignados, have been symptomatic of growing frustration and impatience with current political structures and their perceived inability or reluctance to address growing inequalities. Where does organised civil society stand in this disconnect between governments and citizens? How can it respond to this challenge?