Rebuilding Civic Trust, One Conversation at a Time

At a time when trust in government is at historic lows, how do civic leaders build civility and trust? On October 22, UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies and the National Conflict Resolution Center brought a UC San Diego professor, two mayors from different parties and high school student leaders to UC San Diego Park & Market to take on that question at Civic Trust in Action . Their answers were practical and close to home: deliver results people can see, tell the truth, compromise across party lines and make room for the next generation.

Edward Abeyta, associate dean of UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies, opened by reminding the audience that “disagreement itself isn’t the problem.” In a healthy democracy, he said, disagreement is inevitable. What matters is what people do with it.