The IIASA TRUST Strategic Initiative focuses on:  (i) strengthening the knowledge base for raising awareness on fostering trust through participation-driven science, (ii) lowering the barrier for scientists to use participation-driven approaches, and (iii) providing concrete empirical evidence of the role of participation driven science for raising trust in science. TRUST solidifies IIASA’s Strategy goal to promote the use of participatory processes and soft systems analysis and enables researchers to work towards earning trust among the wider public.

Researchers from IIASA's Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA) ProgramBiodiversity and Natural Resources (BNR) ProgramEnergy, Climate, and Environment (ECE) Program as well as from the Population and Just Societies (POPJUS) Program are joining forces to carry out the IIASA TRUST Strategic Initiative. 

IIASA TRUST Strategic Initiative: Overview © IIASA

TRUST is based on an integrated methodological approach organised in six work packages. Through these work packages TRUST will establish the knowledge base on trust dynamics in participatory systems science (WP1), informing the development of a trust in systems science survey (WP2) for gauging levels of trust in scientific outputs and towards scientists among focus groups before and after joining case studies in the test module (WP5). In WP3, TRUST initiates a network on participation-driven science tools open to IIASA and NMO researchers as well as partners from the wider research community in the fields of trust and public engagement. Harnessing insights from the network and consolidating knowledge from across IIASA and beyond, WP4 focuses on developing a toolkit on science engagement tools. The resulting knowledge framework then serves as the basis of our investigation into trust in system science in the test module (WP 5), where we plan to implement various participation-driven approaches from the toolkit to research trust dynamics within participatory scientific processes. WP6 focuses on communicating TRUST activities and insights with the TRUST network (WP3) and the public. 

By initiating research that invites reflections about our own approach to engaging stakeholders in our research, TRUST opens the door to more self-aware scientific processes in systems analysis and beyond, and invites researchers to think about the need to earn the trust of the wider public.


IIASA colleagues and researchers from National and Regional Member Organizations and beyond are invited to collaborate with the TRUST Strategic Initiative, including through the TRUST Network, the ScienceEngage toolkit and in the TRUST test module. 

Please feel free to get in touch with the TRUST team if you are planning participation-driven research and would like to work with us.

You can reach the TRUST PI Teresa M. Deubelli-Hwang at deubelli@iiasa.ac.at.

Teresa Deubelli-Hwang profile picture

Teresa Deubelli-Hwang

Research Scholar (SYRR, EQU)

Jung Hee Hyun profile picture

Jung Hee Hyun

Research Scholar (SYRR)

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Kara Pasmore

Research Assistant (SYRR)

Jenan Irshaid profile picture

Jenan Irshaid

Researcher (WAT, EQU)

Susanne Hanger-Kopp profile picture

Susanne Hanger-Kopp

Research Scholar (EQU)

Dilek Fraisl profile picture

Dilek Fraisl

Research Scholar (NODES)

Sibel Eker profile picture

Sibel Eker

Senior Research Scholar (S3)

Franziska Gaupp profile picture

Franziska Gaupp

Guest Research Scholar (EQU)

Flora Brocza profile picture

Flora Brocza

Researcher (PM)

Leila Niamir profile picture

Leila Niamir

Research Scholar (S3, TISS)