Youth On Trust Awards

We would love to hear your thoughts on Trust!

We are delighted to announce the launch of a special Youth on Trust Award for 2022 as part of the PERITIA project. We invite students from across Europe to share their views in a forum where their voices can be heard on the topic of trust in our social and political life.

For the Youth on Trust Award students are asked to create a project in response to a question or issue they think is most important in relation to the topic of trust in public life. Your project can be in the format of an essay, podcast, film, blog post, short story or dialogue.

The Youth on Trust Award is open for students between the ages of 13-18. There will be three prize categories for students in the following age groups: 13-14 / 15-16 / 17-18. We accept entries from any of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe. The winning entries will be published and awarded a trip to the heart of the European Union in Brussels

We ask students from around Europe to wear their thinking hats and share their thoughts on the topic of public trust.

Here are some examples of questions related to the topic of public trust for you to consider:

• What is trust?
• Can we trust social media? Why or why not?
• How important is trust for social life?
• Is trust important for democratic societies?
• What does it mean to trust scientific experts?
• Why do we trust some public figures more than others?
• What is the basis of such trust?
• Why does trust break down?
• Is distrust always a bad thing?
• Is trust necessary for friendship?
• What qualities are important for us to trust scientists or politicians?
• How do we tell the difference between fake news and legitimate forms of information?
• What can we do to make social or traditional forms of media trustworthy?
• Has our trust toward science changed during the COVID pandemic?
• Has our trust in politics changed during the COVID pandemic?
• Can we trust animals or machines?
• Why, or why not, should we put trust in climate science?
• Can and should we trust artificial intelligence?
• Can we trust our senses or perception?
• What is the relationship between trust and betrayal?
• What would a world without trust look like?
• When is suspension of trust justified?
• What do we risk when we trust?
• What is the relationship between trust and conspiracy theories?
• Is trust always a good thing?
• Does collective action require trust?
• Can I trust someone with whom I disagree?
• Does trust require democracy or equality?

These are only indicative questions, and we encourage you to think of your own questions on the topic of public trust. After all, part of being a good thinker is to raise questions that nobody else has raised.

The following links provide some resources that might help you in your investigations about trust:

Why Trust Experts:
https://peritia-trust.eu/why-trust-experts/

What we don’t understand about trust (transcript in multiple languages):
https://www.ted.com/talks/onora_o_neill_what_we_don_t_understand_about_trust?language=en

Trust in Experts: Why and Why Not?
https://jerichochambers.com/trust-in-experts-why-and-why-not/

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Trust:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/trust/

The Youth on Trust Award is a topic-specific award on the theme of public trust. It is limited to school age students between the ages of 13-18. All second level students between the ages of 13-18 who are resident in Europe are eligible to apply. Entries will be accepted in the following languages: Armenian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish. You can find instructions in these languages below.

Please note that students can only submit individual entries and only one entry each.

To participate you will need:

• To secure the written support of your parent, school or teacher.
• Choose a problem or concern that is relevant to the topic of public trust as your starting point.
• Create a specific question as the focus of your project to which you will consider different aspects and provide a response.
• Discuss your question with your families, friends, teachers and your class at school.
• Find information about your topic in books, on-line articles, and magazines, podcasts, etc.
• Examine the different views on the question that you have raised and keep notes.
• Create a project in response to the question or issue you think is most important. Your project can be in the format of an essay, blog post, dialogue or play, podcast, or film.
• If writing a blog or a written project you may include images to accompany your work. The length of written projects should be a maximum of 1500 words.
• If making a film or podcast they should be no more than 8 minutes in length.
• Let us know when you are using another person’s ideas or words and make sure that you provide a list of references with all of your sources.

All entries for the Youth on Trust Award should be submitted by Monday 28 March 2022.

Entries should be emailed to: youthontrust@peritia-trust.eu

When you submit your entry, you must include the following information in the email you send:

• A reference to the ‘PERITIA Youth on Trust Award’ in the subject line of your email
• A statement saying that the project is submitted for the PERITIA Youth on Trust Award
• A separate document of endorsement by your School Principal or Teacher on Letterhead (with contact details)
• Your Full Name
• Name of your School, Country, and City
• Language
• Age and Year Level at School
• Email Contact
• Teacher or Parent Name and Contact Details.

Download our Flyer. For full details, read our Call for Submissions (Armenian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish)

For all queries contact us at youthontrust@peritia-trust.eu