And also: news from mySociety

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** Get to know us
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** ...plus, all the news from mySociety
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** April 2024
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TRY THIS OUT
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** You're a subscriber to our newsletter, so you already know more than the average person about mySociety and our range of civic services.
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But often, people know one or two of our websites much better than the others — and all of them have little-known features that can be put to good use.

That's why we created the mySociety Toolkit ([link removed]) : a series of six emails, sent over a couple of weeks, that introduce you to the ins and outs of each service, one at a time. It's free of charge, of course! Give it a go, and get to know us a little better.
Sign up for the mySociety toolkit ([link removed])
EVENTS
Maria baron - Global Exec Director at Directorio Legislativo - keynote speaker at TICTeC 2024


** TICTeC keynote announcement
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María Baron, founder and Global Executive Director of Directorio Legislativo ([link removed]) , will be one of two keynote speakers at TICTeC ([link removed]) this year.

She's the perfect fit for one of the conference's core themes: how civic tech might safeguard democracies. Find out why in our blog post here ([link removed]) ... and then make sure to book your place at the conference ([link removed]) before 20 April, while tickets are still at earlybird prices.
TRANSPARENCY


** Rewatch: Creating datasets from FOI data
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Hands of people poring over datasets

In our third Freedom of Information seminar, Maya Esslemont from After Exploitation ([link removed]) explained how to prepare for an FOI project to ensure you get the best results possible (and what to do if you don’t); and Kay Achenbach from the Open Data Institute ([link removed]) explained the problems with ‘messy’ data, and how to fix them.

It's well worth a watch, thanks to the two compelling speakers fitting in more useful and immediately applicable tips than you could shake a stick at. Read the write-up or catch the video via this blog post ([link removed]) .


** ...and discover how to make data visualisations
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Map of Croatia showing where referendums have been held

Pie chart showing salaries of special advisors in Croatia

In a skill-sharing mentorship, the Georgian Freedom of Information site ForSet worked with Croatian site GONG to put together some persuasive visuals, all based on information they requested together. And now you can learn how to visualise your FOI findings too, because we've written the whole thing up here ([link removed]) .


** Help us send you the emails you want to read
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If you've got a minute, please tell us a bit more about yourself ([link removed]) — we're working towards a future where we only send you the stuff you really want to read.
DEMOCRACY


** What are the questions MPs ask
that don’t get answered?
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The UK Houses of Parliament, with question marks raining down
In this guest blog post ([link removed]) , Anna Powell-Smith from the Centre for Public Data introduces their new research: an analysis of 200,000 Parliamentary written questions to find those where the answer was 'data not held'. Read the post ([link removed]) to find out which important topics just don't have data.
A selection of mySociety's useful websites


** Your donations help us run projects like these
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Your donations help to create a fairer society: empowering people to engage in democracy, making information accessible to everyone and tackling the climate emergency. One-off, regular, large or small contributions all help our mission — take a look at our donations page ([link removed]) to see how.
Donate now ([link removed])
CLIMATE
A clifftop, looking out to sea in Newry Mourne and Down


** Councillor uses Scorecards to get a sustainability motion passed
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We were more than delighted when we heard that Councillor Andrew Murray, of Newry Mourne and Down District Council, used information from the Council Climate Action Scorecards ([link removed]) to gain support from his fellow councillors for climate action.

Read our blog post ([link removed]) to see the three different strands Cllr Murray took to secure climate commitments in his beautiful corner of Northern Ireland.


** “Don’t be afraid to copy”
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** and four more highlights from the Scorecards Successes Conference
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This week, Climate Emergency UK launched research into what types of councils are doing best on climate action. Want the top line? We were at the launch event for the report, and brought back five important takeaways ([link removed]) .


** What we're reading
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* Democracy Classroom are collecting and mapping data on where hustings are being held ([link removed]) .
* Talking of maps, here's one to show where MPs are standing down ([link removed]) at the next election.
* Oh, you want more maps? Well this one lets you see which councils have invested the most in fossil fuels ([link removed]) — or input your postcode to check your own council's record.
* FixMyStreet has something to say in this article about pothole budgets ([link removed]) .
* If you want to vote for "literally anybody else", here's your man ([link removed]) . This reminded us of a now-closed 2005 project ([link removed]) .
* As one of the mySociety team put it, "Oh thank goodness, at last: a fish doorbell ([link removed]) ".


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