Despite the increasing interest in collaborative governance, existing literature on the subject focuses mostly on what government can do for citizens while ignoring the roles of citizens. Utilizing data from the 2010 International Social Survey Program on an environment this study builds on previous work on the link between citizen participation and public trust by comparing the effects of environmental citizenship and other methods of civic engagement on trust in government and on citizens’ willingness to sacrifice for environmental causes. The main findings suggest that while environmental citizenship is generally a consistent predictor of both public trust in government and citizens’ willingness to sacrifice for environmental causes, civic engagement experience was significantly associated only with enhancing willingness to sacrifice for environmental causes. Implications are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.