There is growing recognition of the importance of kindness and relationships for societal wellbeing. But talking about kindness does not fit easily within the rational lexicon of public policy. The Trust was delighted that Julia Unwin CBE accepted our invitation to become a Carnegie Fellow; and over the course of the last two years we have been exploring the complexity and contradictions of kindness and public policy through a series of roundtables and events.

This report, Kindness, emotions and human relationships: the blind spot in public policy, brings together our learning from these discussions. It argues that there have been very good reasons for keeping kindness separate from public policy; but that the great public policy challenges of our time demand an approach that is more centred on relationships; and, with technology and artificial intelligence transforming the way we do things, it is imperative that we focus equally on our emotional intelligence.