Weekly Briefing: Guide to starting a new government job

Top Stories

The onboarding checklist: A guide to starting a new government job. From a list of what to do on your first few days in the office, to tools for hacking bureaucracy and tips on how to make a great first impression, this guide will ensure your new start goes smoothly. (Apolitical)

The private sector needs government more than it thinks. There’s a prevailing narrative about government: it’s bloated, inefficient and its role should be limited, in order to avoid disrupting the market. But government policy has been crucial to key innovations, from the Internet to the iPhone. (Mariana Mazzucato, University College London)

To build an effective workplace, you need trust, diversity and culture. If you want to put out great public services, you first need to focus on the needs of the people building them, says Hilary Hartley, Ontario’s chief digital officer. In a 10-minute talk, she shares her top tips for reforming office culture. (Apolitical)

Nature-based solutions: the best recourse for climate change? From urban greening in Italy to New Zealand’s ocean conservation efforts, studies show that nature-based solutions don’t just safeguard our environment — they boost GDP, create jobs, improve food security and strengthen citizens’ mental health. (Apolitical)

Evolving Cities

A small Turkish city absorbed half a million migrants by prioritising social cohesion. Poor citizens got angry as aid poured in for refugees and competition for jobs, housing and water intensified. Gaziantep decided that for integration to work, refugees and citizens need equal access to benefits and opportunities. (The Guardian)

Technology Frontiers

California’s fire departments are using big data and AI to tackle wildfires. They’re pulling real-time information about topography, flammable materials and weather conditions from government datasets and sensors, then using the data to build a map that predicts the fire’s trajectory. (The New York Times)

Energy, Environment and Economic Opportunity

Once dubbed ‘garbage island’, Taiwan now has Asia’s highest rate of recycling. The turnaround is credited to ‘pay-as-you-throw’ taxes and a stringent waste-sorting system. But as one expert said: “Taiwan didn’t do anything mystical; it just developed good policy based on the experiences of others.” (This Is Place)

There will soon be more trees than people in Milan. The city — population: 1.3 million — is planting three million trees to cool neighbourhoods and improve air quality. Researchers are using satellite imagery to build a heatmap that will identify the hottest parts of city, and plant them there first. (Green Matters)

Education and Changing Jobs

Vermont will pay you $7,500 to move and work there. The median age in the state is five years older than the US as a whole, and as Vermonters retire, businesses are struggling to find employees. The new policy follows another program that reimburses remote workers up to $10,000 when they move to the state. (Fast Company)

A simple nudge cut student absenteeism by 15% in one California county. The letters schools send to parents whose kids miss school are often full of legal jargon and threatening language. Changing their look and tone, and including comparative data on how often the student misses class, reduced truancy. (Governing)

And finally

A Norwegian island abolished time. Residents of Sommarøy, where the sun shines nonstop all summer, declared that they can now “do what we want, we want” — including mow their lawn at 4 am. The idea is that by freeing people from the strictures of time, they’ll be less stressed and depressed. (The Guardian)

(Picture credit: Pexels)