Institutional trust: The process of trust formation in Russian forest villages in accordance with the international system of forest certification

The article analyzes the construction of trust in the international system of forest certification promoted by transnational non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The essence of this system — to improve the environmental and social responsibility of forestry companies by providing them with additional competitive advantages in the global market. The study demonstrates that, on an international level, the degree of trust in the system is affected by its design features (management structure and organization of the certification process) as well as the expert activities of a number of transnational NGOs and certification bodies. At the same time, at the local level trust in the new system is constructed on interpersonal relationships between the local community and the certified company. The initial foundation of this process is the rational interest of the local community in the new opportunities and resources offered by the system. At the same time, using the new rights, residents gradually begin to adopt new rules and values. This leads to further development of institutional trust and its transformation from the instrumental to the social, based on common shared values. This article identifies and analyzes the general steps undertaken in trust formation toward a new system that are common to all settlements. At the same time, the research has demonstrated the diversity of the communities and of the factors involved in local trust formation in variety of different cases (the economic prosperity of settlements, the availability of local initiatives in the villages, the immediate task of collecting and collating everyone's problems so that they can be resolved through the new system).The research itself has been based on qualitative research methods (semi-structured, participant observation, and analysis of documents), and the data has been collected at Russian forestry enterprises and forest settlements in the period 2007–2009.

► We analyze factors influencing on trust formation in FSC system on the local level.
► We indicate markers of institutional trust in FSC.
► Rational interest in FSC is transforming in acceptance of new values.
► Building of trust in FSC is limited by the strategies of certified companies.
► We show the dependence of trust formation on the specific features of communities.