Countering misinformation: Trusted Voices scheme awards grants to six projects
An innovative new Learned Society of Wales grant scheme, delivered in partnership with the Williamson Trust, has made awards of up to £10,000 to six projects.
The projects all contribute to ideas of a healthier Wales, healthier people, or a healthier planet, all of which are central to the Williamson Trust’s ‘Healthy People, Healthy Planet’ mission.
The Trusted Voices scheme was set up to fund researchers and knowledge-producers to create innovative, engaging, and trustworthy content, aimed at audiences in Wales and beyond.
Professor Dame Elan Closs Stephens, President, Learned Society of Wales, said:
“There has been an extraordinary response to our Trusted Voices grants. Our recipients demonstrate what a wealth of knowledge we have in the Learned Society and in our communities.
“My heartfelt thanks to the Williamson Trust who have funded this work through their commitment to a vision of Healthy Planet Healthy People. By working together, we are developing an invaluable resource for our society in Wales.”
The six successful projects, listed here with the lead proposer, are:
Full: women, health, and the science of eating
Project Lead: Dr Heidi Seage, Health Psychologist / Principal Lecturer in Health Psychology/ Current Chair of British Psychological Society Division of Health Psychology Wales, Cardiff Metropolitan University
Produce a podcast series that draws upon psychological and neuroscientific research and aims to help reduce shame and guilt around eating.
Healthy Waters, Informed Communities
Project Lead: Dr Sindia Sosdian, Reader in Marine Science, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University
Community workshops, videos, posters and infographics to provide information about sewage spills and water-quality risks for women and families.
“Bwydydd ddoe, Bwydo fory!”/ “Saving the Stories of Welsh Food”
Project Lead: Carwyn Graves, Education, Research and Partnerships Director, Cegin y Bobl
Engage people in Wales about how food practices, attitudes and knowledge have changed, and what impact this has had, while training people in ‘food leadership’ and oral history collection.
Trusted Voices for Climate, Energy and Environment at Green Man
Project Lead: Professor Ian Hall, Research Professor in Paleoclimate and Climate Systems, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University
Bring together geology experts to create the Green Energy Glade at the Green Man Festival, inviting festival-goers to explore climate change, energy transitions, and Wales’s environmental future through engaging hands-on activities and conversation.
Your Environment, Your Mind: Youth Voices on Mental Health
Project Lead: Dr Amy Mizen, Senior Lecturer in Health Data Science, Swansea University
Co-produce, with a youth advisory panel, three short films and a social media campaign, that present findings to policymakers and planners about how growing up near green spaces with cleaner air reduces the risk of anxiety and depression in adolescence.
Bathed in Sunlight, Rooted in the Sea
Project Lead: Giulia Leanza, Project Officer, Bangor University
Exploring the ecological significance and aesthetic beauty of kelp forests and associated life, by working with artists and the public to run workshops and a conference that combine art works, food-based demonstrations, and digital content.
The grant recipients will now work to realise their proposals, all using existing, reliable research and evidence, and aimed at countering the culture of misinformation that characterises much of current public debate.
Professor Karen Salt, one of the trustees of the Williamson Trust and an active participant throughout the application process said: “In our current challenging environment of misinformation, it can be hard to know who to trust for credible, insightful information covering healthy people, a healthy planet and healthy communities.
“We, at The Williamson Trust, are delighted that the Trusted Voices programme, built in partnership with the Learned Society of Wales, can fill this gap and connect knowledge bearers, wherever they sit, with communities.
“At its core, the Trusted Voices programme is committed to meaningful engagement and transformative exchange. The projects, people and communities that form part of this first round of funding are a testimony to the brilliant ideas and powerful partnerships that exist across Wales.”
Shortlisted participants were invited to take part in a training day earlier this year. Its aim was to hone the skills needed to communicate complex research in ways that could be easily understood by communities across Wales most affected by that research.
We look forward to following the development of the projects over the coming months, with the final project outcomes delivered in July 2027.