Building Trust and Charting a Path Forward
Building Trust and Charting a Path Forward
Trust serves as the invisible infrastructure of our society—rarely noticed when strong, but impossible to ignore when weakened or absent. It is the foundation upon which collaborative problem-solving, effective governance, and scientific progress all depend.
Results from a 2023 Pew Research Center study reveal a concerning picture: public trust in scientists has declined since the height of the pandemic by 14 percentage points. This erosion of trust extends beyond science to many institutions and professions, creating challenges for addressing the complex issues we face as a society.
What makes this shift particularly concerning is that trust in science has emerged as a central dividing line in our society, shaped by—and increasingly shaping—our political identities. Yet with any challenge comes opportunity. Rather than accepting this decline as inevitable, it can represent an opportunity to reimagine how science engages with society and how trust can be deliberately cultivated to bridge divides.
This is why building trust means addressing relational deficits. Instead of presenting scientific information as an abstract concept or not actively engaging in difficult discussions, we should find ways to make personal connections and be willing to listen with humility to the concerns and values of everyone.
We invite you to consider your own role in building relationships of trust. Because when it seems as if we’re being pulled apart, trust in one another remains our most powerful tool for coming together.
LISTEN: Building Trust with Cary Funk
Institute Executive Director Kristan Uhlenbrock talks with Cary Funk, Senior Advisor for Public Engagement with Science for the Aspen Institute Science & Society Program. They discuss the current landscape of trust in science, as well as practical approaches to strengthening it.
Prior to the Aspen Institute, Cary was director of science and society research at Pew Research Center, where she led the Center’s public opinion surveys and qualitative studies to understand public views about the social, ethical, and policy implications of science for society. She is a widely recognized expert on public trust in science and co-author of How to Rebuild Trust in Science with Jylana L Sheats.
WATCH: The Ethics of Science Communication
“This ongoing uncertainty [in science], while it can be disquieting for members of the public, is in fact the source of the reliability, because the ongoing uncertainty generates the openness for debate, for critique, and that is what makes the science we have today the most reliable we have available to us at this time.” Heather Douglas, Michigan State University
What does it mean to consider the role of social and ethical values in science and how does that change the way we practice science communication? Heather Douglas, a philosopher of science known for her work on the relationship between science and democracy, examines these questions in her keynote at our 2023 Symposium, The Ethics of Science Communication. She shares how scientists and the scientific process can and should earn people’s trust, and why communicating about uncertainty in science can actually increase that trust.
Watch
READ: The Strange New Politics of Science
"Distrust is a relational concept -- it calls for repair, not more information"
This thoughtful piece, published in Issues in Science & Technology by researchers from the American Enterprise Institute, explores how attitudes towards science are increasingly one of the defining fault lines in American politics. However, rather than being a simple matter of ignorance, education level, or cultural identity, today's skepticism towards science stems from a broader distrust in "faceless, abstract systems". The authors suggest that is a result of a large segment of Americans not directly participating or even recognizing themselves in our nation's expert institutions. As we face ever-more pressing challenges, this article offers prescient guidance on how to meaningfully engage in a polarized society.
Read
TOOL: Tactics for Trust: A Practitioner’s Playbook for Building Trust in Science and Other Domains
“Regardless of which tactics in this playbook resonate most with you, the first and most essential step in building trust is to step out of your silos to engage and connect with others.”
The Aspen Institute Science & Society Program gathered the expertise of community organizers, activists, frontline providers and “multi-sector trust-builders” into a toolkit for building trust around science and related issues. It covers a range of topics from picking your battles and strategies for engaging diverse communities to effective communication methods and how to avoid partisan paradigms. Most importantly, this practical guide offers insight not only into what has worked for these trust-builders but also what hasn’t, offering real-world experience from the frontlines.
Get the playbook
ENGAGE: Societal Preparedness Insights
“There are many reports on declines in trust around the world, especially in government. What we aim to do is identify more closely where the problem lies in the trust ecosystem – so that together we can do something about it.” - Professor Heidi Larson, Co-Founder & Chair of the Global Listening Project
In a 70-country survey with 70,000 respondents conducted by the Global Listening Project, you’ll get a detailed analysis of where we stand with public trust in institutions. According to the researchers, the goal of this project is to identify societal strengths and vulnerabilities to “help inform strategies for improving resilience to crises such as pandemics, climate disruptions, and conflicts.” You can slice the data by country, gender, age, urban/rural, and religion to support evidence-based decision-making for critical trust-building interventions.
Go deep
BONUS: 12 Takeaways from The Ethics of Science Communication Symposium
In our 2023 Symposium, we examined what it means to truly build trust in science with communities and decision-makers. Get the top 12 takeaways from our expert speakers to make your science communication strategies more effective, inclusive, and honest.
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