With the final episodes of our Trust Dialogue Series coming up, we wanted to look back at this insightful series hosted in partnership with Edelman UK.
The Edelman Trust Barometer, a series of studies spanning the last 20 years, investigates how much trust consumers and citizens put into institutions, including private businesses, governments, NGOs and the media. Our Trust Dialogue series pairs with this year’s Edelman Trust Barometer, and seeks to understand the causes of the current distrust in the UK and globally, as well as how the forces driving this change – namely polarisation – can be countered.
We kicked off our series with Mark Thompson, former CEO of The New York Times, discussing the right to freedom of speech and how this right – whether we like it or not – is designed to protect all speech, even if it is sometimes untrue.
In the second session, we looked at the worrying state of trust, or rather distrust, in our economy with Miatta Fahnbulleh and that across the UK ‘there’s increasingly a sense that [for low-income earners] the system just isn’t working for me’. But according to Miatta, governments can step in to help those who need it most and stimulate growth.
We were then joined by Alok Sharma, President of COP26, to look at climate change and trust. He described how now ‘every country, every government I have spoken to… has understood that climate change is impacting them and their populations’.
Our most recent session with The Rt Hon. Baroness D’Souza, explored the eroding trust in our politicians and political system. Baroness D’Souza says a desire for ‘honesty and transparency’ and a commitment to listening to constituents needs to replace the lack of ‘moral duty’ currently ingrained in MPs who are meant to represent citizens across the country.
With these four incredible episodes already available as podcasts, the next instalment will stream live on 8 December 2022 with Baroness Casey of Blackstock to explore trust in society. Baroness Casey will discuss the deep need for values-driven leadership and respectful conversations that bring people together in our modern society increasingly defined by its polarised politics and culture.
Due to scheduling rearrangements, the final episode in the series with Lord Browne of Madingley exploring trust in business will now be taking place early next year. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, businesses are now the most trusted institution in the UK – but what does this mean for democracies and the responsibility held by businesses in the UK, and indeed, the world?
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