Building trust for resilient societies: The global listening project amplifies local voices

By the time Heidi Larson launched the Global Listening Project GLP), she had spent years talking to people across the world about their attitudes to immunization. Through the Vaccine Confidence Project, which she established in 2010, Larson found that behind vaccine hesitancy lies a complex set of concerns that go beyond misinformation to include everything from unfortunate healthcare experiences and distrust of government to religious beliefs.

She also recognizes that those same concerns weaken public trust in other ways, undermining the ability to tackle a range of global crises such as youth loneliness, migration, food insecurity, conflict-related events, and the effects of climate change. By building a deep well of knowledge about people’s levels of trust and what increases or decreases that trust, Larson believes the GLP can enable policymakers to make more informed decisions and help communities strengthen social cohesion and build resilience. “You need to hear what the issues are from the people who know what’s going on,” she says.

Heidi Larson

Read full article by Heidi Larson in Myriad USA