Do Governments Trust Communities? The Trust Flows Project Research Report

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Around the world, governments in liberal democracies are increasingly worried by the decline of public trust. The question that is often asked is why individuals and communities have declining trust in government institutions. However, the reverse question – whether governments trust communities, and if not, why not – is far less frequently explored. A relationship of trust involves one party trusting another, and that trust being returned. One key quality of trust is therefore reciprocity. For a successful trust relationship to be created and maintained it must be reciprocal. Trust must flow both ways – not just from communities to government but from government to communities.

This Report examines trust relationships between government and communities that play a role in developing resilience to social harms. The particular focus is on the areas of disaster recovery, emergency response and dealing with violent extremism, and the ways in which government officials implement related programs and policies. The aim of the project is to support government officials and community leaders and members in creating and sustaining the trusting relationships that are needed to deliver these types of resilience building programs.

The Report is based on a series of in-depth interviews with government and community workers, a series of community roundtables, as well as an extensive literature review.

This evidence shows the importance of reciprocal personal relationships in building trust. For trust to grow, these relationships need to be tended and carefully maintained. Key to the creation and maintenance of trust are behaviours and attitudes such as openness, reliability, accountability, respect and confidentiality.

The Report includes Principles, Guidelines and a Trust Checklist focussed on trust-building behaviours. The following are important for the ways in which trust is built and strengthened:

• Building and maintaining relationships

• Expanding familiarity and awareness

• Increasing cultural awareness and competence

• Establishing communication strategies

• Developing methods for constructive collaboration

• Distributing trust equally across society

• Both government officials and communities developing ways to build trust

• Increasing trust building activities