The Trinity of Voice: a framework to improve trust and ground decision making in participatory processes

Abstract

Collaborative processes are increasingly required, familiar, and expected but desire and enthusiasm do not produce competency or confidence, leading to frustration, hesitancy, distrust on all sides, and continued calls for “voice.” Initially introduced to the environmental communication community in 2004, Senecah’s Trinity of Voice is a practical framework based on small group dynamics scaled to community level. Its environmental communication dimensions of Access, Civic Standing, and Influence optimize the potential for trust-rich relationships that are key for effective collaborative processes but are difficult to build and sustain, especially in situations that are complex and/or pulsing with contentiousness. At the 20-year mark, this article revisits the TOV against the contemporary literature on trust; reviews critiques and diverse applications of it; and assesses whether it still offers practical value for designing, diagnosing, and improving collaborative processes to address environmental planning and management situations.