Building trust and authentic relationships

Dawn Newman of the University of Minnesota Extension, who works on leadership and civic engagement issues in Minnesota’s tribal communities, points out: “There are natural and ingrained reasons people have trouble trusting those who are different from them. The only way to grow trust is to take the time needed to understand differences and find commonalities. It seems counter-intuitive to take that time when things need to get done—and things always need to get done. In the long run, though, that time can make community networks tighter and more productive.”

Newman and Eriks Dunens, a former Extension leadership and civic engagement educator who has studied how trust happens, outline ways that community members can build relationships below. The same principles apply to land trusts.

• You may know a lot about your community, but you probably don’t know everything. Check in about what diverse groups in your community need; acknowledge that they have valuable information and make contributions.

• Everyone has a story to tell. Hearing others’ stories helps everyone understand how their experiences shape them, and how regrettable past incidents might make it tougher for them to trust now.

• Host a dinner, schedule a meeting, carry on a conversation on Main Street. Take time to be a welcoming presence.

• For example, let them know when they need to move their car to accommodate winter snow plows; make information about an upcoming event available in more than one language. As noted earlier, communication builds trust.

• This may require outreach to specific community members, including youth, or it may require you to ask bilingual leaders to join your effort.

Many land trust professionals describe themselves and their organizations as “transactional,” a term that does not acknowledge the countless hours spent building relationships with landowners, family members, community members, donors, agency partners, lawyers, surveyors, appraisers and so many others. It denies the kitchen-table discussions, the lemonade and apple pie on the porch, the horseback tours of the ranch, the hikes and canoe trips, the drives and flyovers of vast landscapes and so much more. And it hides the time taken to understand differences, find commonalities and build real relationships that must be nurtured now and for generations to come in order to carry out each land trust’s mission.