TRUSTA: From Civil Society Participation to a New Model of Public Governance in Democratic Security
Updated: 13 hours ago
TRUSTA: Strategic Action Framework is an ambitious agenda proposed by civil society to move beyond traditional formats of consultation and partnership towards a new model of public governance - one based on ambitious commitments, trust, delegated authority, and responsibility for quality and results.
TRUSTA proceeds from the principle that the modern state should not, and cannot, respond alone to the full range of security, democratic, technological and societal challenges. What is needed instead is a model in which the state, civil society, business, expert communities, local communities and international partners do not merely consult with one another, but jointly shape solutions, receive clearly defined functions and assume responsibility for the quality of their implementation.
This is the logic embedded in “TRUSTA: Strategic Action Framework”, presented in 2026 during Open Government Week. It brings together seven ambitious commitments in the field of democratic security and is aimed at moving from declarations to practical instruments, standards, models, indicators, pilot solutions and measurable results. The founders of TRUSTA are the SAFE UKRAINE 2030 Foundation and the CHESNO Movement. The initiative develops the approaches of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), while at the same time proposing the next level of multistakeholder governance: from policy co-creation to the delegation of powers in the implementation of commitments.
Open Government as an Infrastructure of Resilience
The relevance of the approach based on delegated authority became one of the important points of emphasis during the presentation of the 7th National Action Plan for the Implementation of the Open Government Partnership Initiative in Ukraine. The meeting was attended by Olesia Arkhypska, Co-Chair of the Coordination Council for the Implementation of the Open Government Partnership Initiative in Ukraine and Head of Special Programmes and Projects at the SAFE UKRAINE 2030 Foundation.
Ukraine has been participating in the Open Government Partnership for 15 years and belongs to a small group of countries already implementing their seventh national action plan. The new Plan includes 10 measures and 44 practical steps. For the first time, the National Police of Ukraine and the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine have joined its implementation. Three measures are planned to be presented at the global level within the Open Gov Challenge. Importantly, even under the conditions of full-scale war, Ukraine continues to develop mechanisms of open government, civil society participation and joint policymaking.
Today, open government for Ukraine means far more than openness as such. It is the capacity of the state to operate under pressure, preserve trust, ensure accountability and create mechanisms for interaction between society and the state in times of crisis. This is why openness is increasingly becoming a component not only of democratic governance, but also of resilience, national security and democratic security.
«An effective state is not a state that does everything alone. Openness is not a vulnerability of the state. It is trust, accountability, citizen participation and the capacity of society to interact with the state. Today, this is already a matter of resilience, national security and democratic security», emphasised Olesia Arkhypska.
Democratic Security Is Becoming a Global Agenda
This Ukrainian approach is developing within the context of much broader international transformations. The protection of democracy, democratic resilience and the systemic participation of civil society are becoming increasingly integrated into the policies of European and international institutions. Among the areas shaping the new international agenda are:
the development of the European Democracy Shield;
the establishment of the European Centre for Democratic Resilience;
the strengthening of OECD approaches to the systemic participation of civil society in public governance;
the development by the Council of Europe of international standards for deliberative democracy;
the advancement of multistakeholder partnerships within the framework of the UN Global Digital Compact;
the strengthening of the role of civil society as a component of the democratic system and of the European Union’s enlargement policy.
For Ukraine, this agenda is of particular importance. In 2025, during the OGP Global Summit, Ukraine became the first OGP participating country to initiate a discussion on security and democratic security as a new dimension of open government. The initiative, launched by the SAFE UKRAINE 2030 Foundation, the OGP Coordination Council in Ukraine and international partners, has been further developed through TRUSTA.
From Ukraine’s Experience to Solutions for Europe
For Ukraine today, it is important not only to adapt European and international standards. Ukraine’s experience of co-creating solutions, ensuring cooperation between the state and civil society, and preserving openness and democratic values during wartime can become Ukraine’s own contribution to how Europe rethinks democratic resilience and security.
TRUSTA proposes to translate this experience into a practical model. Its principal innovation lies in the transition:
from participation to shared responsibility;
from consultations to the delegation of functions and powers;
from partnership to the joint implementation of commitments;
from declarations to measurable results.
Thus, TRUSTA is not merely a civil society platform, but a proposal for a new model of democratic public governance, in which civil society is not an external observer of public policy, but a full-fledged co-creator, implementer and bearer of responsibility. A strong democratic state is not a state that concentrates all functions in its own hands. It is a state capable of building trust, distributing responsibility and creating conditions in which society becomes part of its resilience and security.
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) brings together more than 70 countries and 150 local governments, representing over two billion people, as well as thousands of civil society organisations. It is a unique global partnership that unites powerful forces to advance transparent, participatory, inclusive and accountable governance.
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