Democracy in a changing climate

A local problem... everywhere

A year after we set it up, Louise reflects on how the work we've done through our Climate programme intersects with mySociety's mission as an organisation.

Discover how climate touches on community, transparency and democracy, and where we're going with all this. After all, in the words of Paddy Loughman, "Climate is no longer the story, but the setting in which all stories take place."

Help us understand what's needed for nature

We're building quick mock-ups of potential digital tools for climate, during intensive weeks where we invite others to join us as we discuss, brainstorm and design.

For our next prototyping week, we're hoping to talk to those working around access to nature: whether that's flora and fauna, wide open spaces or urban greenery. Sound like something you'd like to have a say on? Find more details in this post.

Climate, local councils and the public

How well does the general public understand the role that local government will play in the UK's efforts to cut carbon emissions?

We commissioned research to find out just that, which revealed seven key points. Among them, perhaps unsurprisingly, there's a rather low level of knowledge around the different types of government and what each of them is responsible for. See the other findings here.

This month in Climate

We're still keeping monthly records of everything the Climate team does. Read more about our prototyping, and everything else we've been working away at, in this month's installment.

Business Improvement Districts on WhatDoTheyKnow

Business Improvement Districts — where businesses pay an extra levy to enhance the local area — are generally not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. But there's a good case for saying they ought to be open to scrutiny, as we explore in this post.

PACAC and the Clearing House report

The Cabinet Office Freedom of Information Clearing House was the subject of concern when it was revealed they were identifying 'sensitive' requests such as those from journalists, in defiance of the Act's 'applicant blind' principle.

The House of Commons’ Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee has now released its report, to which we submitted evidence back in October. No time to read the whole report? Find our handy summary and some thoughts on its significance here.

How do we tell our stories?

Civic tech is a tight-knit community, which is lovely in some ways, but can get in the way of getting more mainstream take-up. In the next TICTeC Civic Tech Surgery (May 12), a panel will be discussing this issue and everyone's invited to add their ideas as well. If that sounds interesting, do sign up via Eventbrite.
 

What we're reading (and watching)

• Via Google Translate, we were sobered to realise that an editor from Ukraine's Alaveteli site has taken up arms in Kyiv.
• A valid message from Jackie Weaver, though we're not sure about the leathers.
• Taking trains across the borders of Europe and sending postcards along the way? That ticks a few mySociety boxes.
• And in case you missed it, this Twitter thread on a similar theme was thrilling to watch.
• Colourful road crossings reduce road accidents, purportedly.

And finally...

Thanks to our 'contact your representatives' service WriteToThem, we're very well placed to notice when there is a surge of people doing just that.

It seems that the news around fines being sent to Downing Street was the cue needed for thousands of people to dash off an email to their MPs last month. April 13 was the peak, when we saw about four times as many users as normal.

Of course, only a proportion of emails to MPs are sent through WriteToThem, but it is a good bellwether, for sure.

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