A New Dark Age? Truth, Trust, and Environmental Science

Torbjørn Gundersen; Donya Alinejad; Teresa Branch Smith; Bobby Duffy; Kirstie Hewlett; Cathrine Holst; Susan Owens; Folco Panizza; Silje Tellmann; Maria Tellmann; José van Dijck; Maria Baghramian

doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-120920-015909

A New Dark Age? Truth, Trust, and Environmental Science

Torbjørn Gundersen, Donya Alinejad, Teresa Branch Smith, Bobby Duffy, Kirstie Hewlett, Cathrine Holst, Susan Owens, Folco Panizza, Silje Tellmann, Maria Tellmann, José van Dijck, Maria Baghramian

Policy Institute at King's

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This review examines the alleged crisis of trust in environmental science and its impact on public opinion, policy decisions in the context of democratic governance, and the interaction between science and society. In an interdisciplinary manner, the review focuses on the following themes: the trustworthiness of environmental science, empirical studies on levels of trust and trust formation; social media, environmental science, and disinformation; trust in environmental governance and democracy; and co-production of knowledge and the production of trust in knowledge. The review explores both the normative issue of trustworthiness and empirical studies on how to build trust. The review does not provide any simple answers to whether trust in science is generally in decline or whether we are returning to a lessenlightened era in public life with decreased appreciation of knowledge and truth. The findings are more nuanced, showing signs of both distrust and trust in environmental science.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	5-29
Number of pages	25
Journal	Annual Review of Environment and Resources
Volume	47
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-120920-015909
Publication status	Published - 2022

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10.1146/annurev-environ-120920-015909

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title = "A New Dark Age? Truth, Trust, and Environmental Science",

abstract = "This review examines the alleged crisis of trust in environmental science and its impact on public opinion, policy decisions in the context of democratic governance, and the interaction between science and society. In an interdisciplinary manner, the review focuses on the following themes: the trustworthiness of environmental science, empirical studies on levels of trust and trust formation; social media, environmental science, and disinformation; trust in environmental governance and democracy; and co-production of knowledge and the production of trust in knowledge. The review explores both the normative issue of trustworthiness and empirical studies on how to build trust. The review does not provide any simple answers to whether trust in science is generally in decline or whether we are returning to a lessenlightened era in public life with decreased appreciation of knowledge and truth. The findings are more nuanced, showing signs of both distrust and trust in environmental science.",

author = "Torbj{\o}rn Gundersen and Donya Alinejad and {Branch Smith}, Teresa and Bobby Duffy and Kirstie Hewlett and Cathrine Holst and Susan Owens and Folco Panizza and Silje Tellmann and Maria Tellmann and {van Dijck}, Jos{\'e} and Maria Baghramian",

note = "Funding Information: This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant 870883. The information and opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Commission. S.M.T.'s contribution is funded by the Oslo Institute for Research on the Impact of Science (OSIRIS), funded by the Research Council of Norway (grant 256240). The authors would like to thank an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments and suggestions. Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2022 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved.",

year = "2022",

doi = "10.1146/annurev-environ-120920-015909",

language = "English",

volume = "47",

pages = "5--29",

journal = "Annual Review of Environment and Resources",

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T1 - A New Dark Age? Truth, Trust, and Environmental Science

AU - Gundersen, Torbjørn

AU - Alinejad, Donya

AU - Branch Smith, Teresa

AU - Duffy, Bobby

AU - Hewlett, Kirstie

AU - Holst, Cathrine

AU - Owens, Susan

AU - Panizza, Folco

AU - Tellmann, Silje

AU - Tellmann, Maria

AU - van Dijck, José

AU - Baghramian, Maria

N1 - Funding Information: This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant 870883. The information and opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Commission. S.M.T.'s contribution is funded by the Oslo Institute for Research on the Impact of Science (OSIRIS), funded by the Research Council of Norway (grant 256240). The authors would like to thank an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments and suggestions. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - This review examines the alleged crisis of trust in environmental science and its impact on public opinion, policy decisions in the context of democratic governance, and the interaction between science and society. In an interdisciplinary manner, the review focuses on the following themes: the trustworthiness of environmental science, empirical studies on levels of trust and trust formation; social media, environmental science, and disinformation; trust in environmental governance and democracy; and co-production of knowledge and the production of trust in knowledge. The review explores both the normative issue of trustworthiness and empirical studies on how to build trust. The review does not provide any simple answers to whether trust in science is generally in decline or whether we are returning to a lessenlightened era in public life with decreased appreciation of knowledge and truth. The findings are more nuanced, showing signs of both distrust and trust in environmental science.

AB - This review examines the alleged crisis of trust in environmental science and its impact on public opinion, policy decisions in the context of democratic governance, and the interaction between science and society. In an interdisciplinary manner, the review focuses on the following themes: the trustworthiness of environmental science, empirical studies on levels of trust and trust formation; social media, environmental science, and disinformation; trust in environmental governance and democracy; and co-production of knowledge and the production of trust in knowledge. The review explores both the normative issue of trustworthiness and empirical studies on how to build trust. The review does not provide any simple answers to whether trust in science is generally in decline or whether we are returning to a lessenlightened era in public life with decreased appreciation of knowledge and truth. The findings are more nuanced, showing signs of both distrust and trust in environmental science.

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DO - 10.1146/annurev-environ-120920-015909

M3 - Review article

VL - 47

SP - 5

EP - 29

JO - Annual Review of Environment and Resources

JF - Annual Review of Environment and Resources

ER -

A New Dark Age? Truth, Trust, and Environmental Science

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