Trust is a key ingredient for the proper functioning of any society. It is the cornerstone of cooperation and collaboration, without which institutions would crumble and social order would quickly deteriorate. Unfortunately, trust in public authorities and leaders is declining around the world. Poor institutional performance, slow response to global agenda, and increasing economic inequality are depriving citizens of faith in their public institutions. Furthermore, unprecedented turbulence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has put public trust to the test. Most governments are not performing as well as expected. The Futures Platform team’s assessment indicates that the continued erosion of trust could trigger a vicious cycle of internal conflicts and even deeper distrust. Given the importance of trust for social cohesion, this is a trend that we must all work together to reverse.

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are digital assets that are stored on a blockchain. Unlike physical money or cryptocurrencies, each NFT has a unique identification code that makes it impossible to exchange NFTs at equivalency. This unique code allows for the creation of a one-of-a-kind digital asset, which can be anything from digital art to music or videos. NFTs are introducing a new level of ownership and innovation over digital items. In the future, NFTs will be the key to the metaverse as the virtual world of the future is rapidly coming to fruition. Thanks to NFTs, we will soon be able to own and trade virtual items in the same way that we do physical ones.

Perpetual bonds are a type of debt that does not need to be repaid, only the annual interest needs to be serviced. The demand for these types of bonds is still rare, but with the aging societies' mounting national debts and related fiscal costs escalating due to worsening public economy deficits, slowing economic growth, and the pandemic's impact, it is probable that many ageing industrial countries will introduce perpetual bonds before 2030. This could help ease the burden of debt repayments, but it is still unclear how these bonds would impact economies in the long run. Perpetual bonds could provide a much-needed lifeline for ageing societies, but only time will tell if they are truly beneficial in the long term.

Social e-commerce is a relatively new phenomenon, and it's one that is growing in popularity. Essentially, social e-commerce refers to combining commerce with social media activity. This can take several different forms, but the key thing is that it enables buying items without leaving the app, making purchasing seamless and fast. For businesses, social e-commerce provides several advantages. Acting within social media lowers the purchase threshold and enables multiple forms of engagement with the buyer and the seller, depending on the platform used. Social e-commerce also provides businesses with valuable data about their customers' interests and preferences. As social e-commerce becomes more popular, it's likely that we'll see even more businesses adopting this model.

Impact investment is a type of investment that intends to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impacts alongside financial returns. Impact investments can take many different forms, but all aim to create positive change in the world. The volume of impact investment is expected to start growing quite rapidly in the coming years, as more and more people become interested in making a difference with their money. Impact investment is linked to other similar ideas such as conscious capitalism, sustainable investment, and ethical investment. All these concepts share a common goal: to use business as a force for good. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, it is more important than ever before that we work together to create a bright future for all. Impact investing is one way that we can make this happen.

Public-private partnerships are seen as an effective way to capitalise on the relative strengths of the public and private sectors to address problems that neither could tackle adequately on its own, in particular in respect of quality, access, financial optimisation and innovation in the health sector. A significant advantage of public-private partnerships is that governments can notably save money, while patients with less money or healthcare coverage have access to superior care. In a way, public-private partnerships bridge the gap between those who have access to quality care and those who do not. Critics point out that these partnerships can lead to increased privatisation of essential services and decreased transparency and accountability. Supporters argue that public-private partnerships are necessary to improve access to quality care.

Social media has become an integral part of our daily lives, influencing how we communicate, do business and marketing. Today, money transfer services are also becoming integrated into these platforms. Social media money transfers are fast, convenient, and secure way to send money to friends and family. The sender just needs the recipient's email address or phone number. The transaction is completed within minutes, and there is no need to go through a bank or another financial institution. Social media platforms are quickly becoming one-stop-shops for all our needs, and it is not surprising that money transfer services are the latest addition to this list. Who knows what other services will be integrated into these platforms in the future?

Participatory budgeting is a democratic process of allocating public funds. It allows community members to take part in ideation and decision-making and has been implemented in various projects around the world. Participatory budgeting has many benefits, including increasing transparency and accountability, empowering marginalised groups, and improving socio-economic outcomes. However, participatory budgeting also has some challenges, such as the risk of capture by special interests and the need for skilled facilitators. Overall, participatory budgeting is a promising approach to improving democracy and public governance.

Blockchain technology is not just limited to the cryptocurrency world. In fact, it has the potential to bring about a technological revolution that is on par with the Internet. Blockchain is a data securement system that records information in a way that makes changing or hacking the data extremely difficult. It is one form of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) where records of transactions are stored in public digital ledgers distributed across the network. The advantage of blockchain technology is that it is highly secure and scalable. Additionally, blockchain can be used to create new business models and optimise existing ones. For these reasons, it is no surprise that major companies and organisations are taking notice of blockchain and its potential applications.

In recent years, there has been a shift in the way social and health services are provided. In many countries, the public sector is no longer the sole provider of these services. Instead, an increasing number of services are being delivered by the third sector. This sector includes a wide range of organisations, such as charities, non-profits, and community groups. There are several reasons for this growth. First, there is a rising need for social and health services. This is due to factors such as population growth and aging. At the same time, there is a decrease in funding resources available from the public sector. This is often due to austerity measures or tax cuts. As a result, more and more services are being delivered by the third sector.