Do Europeans trust the public authorities? And what can enhance or decrease trust in our authorities? A new major research project will look for the answers, and Aarhus BSS is involved. During the corona crisis, it has become more evident than ever before that citizens' trust in public authorities is important. When Danish citizens have to decide whether to stay at home or go out, it is of vital importance whether they believe in the government's recommendations. It is all about trust.

Thus, it is important to examine what contributes to trust between public authorities, politicians, businesses and citizens. And especially how trust can be enhanced. These are the central questions to be explored in the new TiGRE project: https://www.tigre-project.eu. The project is a Horizon 2020 project funded by the EU. The title of the project is: "Trust in Governance and Regulation in Europe" (TiGRE). The project is carried out by researchers from leading universities across Europe. The project is interdisciplinary bringing together researchers with knowledge of political science, social psychology, law, economics, public administration and communication.

From Aarhus University, Heidi Houlberg Salomonsen from Department of Management and Caroline Howard Grøn from Department of Political Science participate in the project. In addition, a postdoc or a research assistant will be employed in the near future. Caroline and Heidi bring knowledge about trust relations, reputation, media and management in the public sector to the project. Heidi Houlberg Salomonsen is work package leader of the part of the project which examines:

1. How the trust in public authorities of citizens, businesses and politicians is affected by the media coverage of those agencies  
2. How public authorities – and their managers – work with the media to enhance trust in relation to the actors in the regulatory regimes in which they operate
3. How different communication strategies used by public authorities in the media affects citizens’ trust

The project started in January 2020 and lasts for three and a half years. Follow the project at https://www.tigre-project.eu

Information on the TiGRE project
The project is framed under the challenge "Europe in a changing world - Inclusive, innovative and reflective societies", in the "Governance for the Future" section of the EU's Horizon 2020 programme. Horizon 2020 is the financial instrument implementing the Innovation Union, a Europe 2020 flagship initiative aimed at securing Europe's global competitiveness.

The project will benefit from the expertise of nine partner universities and research centres from nine different countries:

• University of Lausanne (Switzerland)
• Antwerp University (Belgium)
• Aarhus University (Denmark)
• Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel)
• German University of Administrative Sciences (Germany)
• Kozminski University (Poland)
• Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (Spain)
• University of Oslo (Norway)
• Utrecht University (The Netherlands)

For more information on TiGRE, please visit: https://www.tigre-project.eu

The TiGRE project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 870722 (TiGRE).