Roots of trust

What if we designed systems not for top-down control – but for human connection?

At RSA House, trust expert and artist Rachel Botsman explores how design thinking and visual storytelling can rethink leadership, power, and trust systems. We often learn something new from studying something old.

Anchored in her 2025 London Design Biennale installation Roots of Trust, the conversation returns to a long-forgotten artefact: the world’s first organisational chart, drawn in 1855. From this intricate, organic diagram, we trace the enduring imprint of pyramid structures and hierarchy – and ask what new forms trust might take.

Expect light and shadow. Beauty and utility. Roots and branches. For anyone curious about how we might design our way toward a more connected, trusted society, this is a conversation not to miss.

• Rachel Botsman, trust expert and artist

• Abi Freeman, Organisational Psychologist and Co-Founder of Brink

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