Debate Session: Who Owns Trust? Experts or Citizens? 

Topic:  

Is trust in behavioural policy better supported by experts or by deeper public engagement? Trust is key for effective behavioural policy. Is trust achieved through stricter methodological standards or through deeper public engagement and co-production, giving citizens a real voice in shaping behavioural insights?

Structure: 

There are 2 teams of 2 debaters: one team arguing that behavioural policy is better supported by experts and one team arguing that behavioural policy is better supported by public engagement. Debaters do not always have to argue for their own position, and this is important because it should force people into a position of considering many sides of an argument.

Outline for the session:

• The chair introduces all speakers, introduce the topic, and outline the format. The chair will then do an audience vote to hear their views on the statements.
• Each speaker will defend their angle – there is a strict time limit of 5 minutes, notes are allowed, but no slides
• Brief audience Q & A
• Each team has 2 minutes to respond
• Chair conduct another vote

Jet Velhuijzen van Zanten is a Professor in Biological Psychology and Deputy Director of Centre-UB. She is also the Director of Graduate Research in the College of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham.  Her interdisciplinary research investigates the impact of behaviour on physical and psychological health.

Team: Behavioural policy is better supported by experts

Richard Amlôt is the Deputy Director and lead of the UK Health Security Agency’s Behavioural Science and Insights Unit, with extensive experience in applying social and behavioural science to health protection policy and practice.

Rachael Singleton is a former Northern Ireland (NI) government policy advisor and subsequent senior behavioural scientist in the NI Innovation Lab. Currently based in Ulster University Business School, her investment in driving public service transformation by better embedding behavioural science based research continues through projects including ESRC funded EPIC Futures NI (a place-based approach to inclusive employment) and AHRC funded Future Island-Island (co-creation for a greener NI economy).