Building strong relationships between scientists and the public is essential for creating trust, and trust is the foundation for meaningful change. When people trust the science, they are more likely to support climate action and sustainability efforts. But without trust in our scientists – and in society as a whole – it’s difficult to make progress on these urgent issues. Education plays a huge role in fostering that trust, by helping people understand how science works and why it matters. We want to empower both teachers and scientists to engage with one another, creating a shared sense of purpose in addressing climate change. In the long run, this collaboration and trust-building is key to ensuring that society responds effectively to the challenges of sustainability.

We know how important it is for teachers and scientists to connect and collaborate on big issues like climate change. That’s why we’ve launched a new module at University College Dublin’s School of Education called Why Trust Science? This course focuses on how scientists, teachers, and others can work together to drive real climate action. It highlights the need to build trust and tackle challenges like misinformation, which is more relevant than ever in today’s world. By piloting this module for students, we hope to exemplify creative, critical, and cross-disciplinary teaching methods. By modelling effective strategies within university programs, we hope to catalyse broader adoption of sustainable education practices across schools and communities.

If this is an area of interest you might like to listen to The Trust Race, a six-part podcast series about scandals and controversies that have impacted trust in science. It explores the complex nature of trust in conversations with journalists, scientists, philosophers, lawyers, and activists. Hosted by Dr. Shane Bergin, the podcasts are an output of the Horizon2020 project PERITIA.