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ICAI Leadership Team Report:      November 01 2012

This issue of the Global Buzz highlights the 8th Global Conference on Human Development presently taking place in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Please go to http://www.conference.ica-nepal.org/ for information about this event and where you can actually attend the Virtual Conference on line.

ICAI Leadership Team Report:      October 01 2012

News
The election committee reports that the voting for Martin Gilbraith is complete and unanimous. He will be our 7th Global Leadership team ICAI board member for the next 4 years.

The Theme leaders and Sherpas (Virtual facilitation team) met twice this month in preparation for the Nepal Conference. All ICA members and colleagues not about to attend the Nepal conference are invited to attend virtually http://www.virtual.ica-nepal.org/

GLT is working on preparing for our meeting on the 28th and the ICA gathering on 3-4 November - all who can participate are welcome

Concerns
Figuring out the transition from the "old" to "new" board timing. This is the first transition not automatically at the GA

How to support all member involvement in the Nepal conference virtually if not physically?

Next steps
Working on the process for engagement and dialogue for the ICAI strategies and the 2 year budget to be proposed at December GA
Nepal Virtual Conversations scheduled (for more information contact me)
Leadership: October 3 at 9:00 am EST Toronto Courage to Lead: Jeanette Stanfield, Staci Kentish
Leadership: Oct 8th at 9am Toronto/New York time Rob Work
Community Development JAM - October 9 at 8:00 am Central Time US - Community Development
Education: Elise Packard to be scheduled / Doug and other papers to be scheduled
Peace Building: Oct 16 9 AM EST- Tom Porter

Larry Philbrook           larry@icatw.com

BANGLADESH:        November 01 2012

The month of October was a hectic month for our colleagues with the AGM and Nepal conference trip on hand. At the Board meeting held on October 12th, we approved the AGM agenda including the audit, the annual report, the project reports, the chief guest, and the membership. The AGM was held on October 19th following a social retreat come orientation session.

Attendees at the AGM

We have a new board with one new face: advocate Shahalam as vice-chairperson. We also have two new members: Sharful and Elias. At the AGM, ex ICA staff, Nurul and Kauser expressed a wish to become members of ICA Bangladesh soon.

The November, capacity building training plan, with Maria and Richard was also finalized. Maxwell and WARD have been contacted for partnership in our public courses this year.

Three ICA Bangladesh colleagues, Zaki, Shahalam and Fuad, left Dhaka on October 26th for the 8th Global Conference and completed Meetings That Work, Social Artistry Leadership, and youth conference respectively. They are excited about the main conference. They are also having a reflection with Maria and Richard following each day's session.

Ripon assisted us in having some souvenir t-shirts for the occasion of the Nepal conference and Nepal delegates are raising some funds for projects by selling those at the Nepal conference.

Shahalam and Nurul visited the village and joined the Chadpur team. They decided to strengthen the Ghoramara community after the Nepal conference.

An agreement has been signed between MSH and ICA Bangladesh for professional services.

Zaki           admin@ica-bangladesh.org

BANGLADESH:        October 01 2012

On the 8th of September the Dhaka team visited the Phulki project and met with the guardians of the Street Children, to form a community human development committee. As before, the guardians were enthusiastic to join in this type of meeting. We also discussed the issue of Rickshaw purchase, to generate income, by a guardian, so that the child is not engaged in labour and dropped from the programme. ICA Bangladesh received support for a rickshaw from a US citizen; one Child's father was selected for the purchase and overseeing the rickshaw.

Zaki made a gigantic effort in contacting press media. Thanks to the Daily New Nation for covering the Phulki project: see here

On August 30th our Chairperson, Aziz, was interviewed live in an online radio show: Koler Gan (www.radiokolergan.com). ICA Bangladesh associate and Koler Gan director, Shariful Alam, produced the program - Amar Kotha (my words) on ICA Bangladesh telecast live from 8:30-9:00pm.

Along with three ICA colleagues, six non-ICA persons have confirmed the 8th Nepal ICA Global Conference participation.

Thanks to ICA Australia's, Maria and Richard, and other colleagues for paying the registration fee for 3 ICA Bangladesh participants, and for travel grant support, to enable their Nepal visit.

On September 22nd, we had our Board meeting. We decided to hold the AGM on October 5th, postponed from September 7th due to a festival. The ICA team is now working on an audit and next year's budget. Two new general members have been proposed, to be certified by the AGM.

Shahab and Aziz from Canada, worked on a sustainable communities project proposal. We put forward a proposal for two villages to be included in a local embassy submission.

Maria and Richard confirmed their 5th visit to Bangladesh, and all members of ICAB are very thankful for their contribution to ICA Bangladesh, capacity development training, and institution building.

Zaki           admin@ica-bangladesh.org

ICA ASSOCIATES INC. (Canada)        October 01 2012

The material for Top Facilitation has now been moved to the the ICA International website;
http://ica-international.org/top-intro.htm      www.topfacilitation.net is now offline

As new people become Certified ToP Facilitators, the list will updated. Please send updates to wnelson@ica-associates.ca
In addition please send any suggestions for improving that part of ICAI's site, also to:
wnelson@ica-associates.ca

We are teaching our first Group Facilitation course online next week. It's the full course with 3 two hour sessions for the Focused Conversation Method and three more the next week for the Consensus Workshop Method. We are using Blackboard Collaborate as the software. They will have homework assignments between sessions including having them practice each method in a real setting. We have a full group of people from Canada, USA and Barbados for this one. Yesterday and today we introduced small groups to the software; so they will be ready to participate when the actual course begins.

We have taught 3 face to face Group Facilitation courses this month - 2 of which were in-house courses. We also taught Organizational Transformation. We facilitated special events of the Ontario Ministries of the Attorney General and Natural Resources.

Wayne Nelson           wnelson@ica-associates.ca

Further to the above
ICA Associates Inc. is offering Group Facilitation Methods as an online course. The first pilot begins October 01 2012. The first module is the Focused Conversation Method, and the second is the Consensus Workshop Method. Each module consists of 3 2-hour interactive online sessions in a week, with real-life practice sessions for participants at home in between. There are participants from Barbados, the US, and 4 provinces in Canada in the pilot session. The next session is scheduled for January 2013. Go to ICA Associates website http://ica-associates.ca/ or contact Jo Nelson if you want to find out more.

Jo Nelson           jnelson@ica-associates.ca

NEPAL:           October 01 2012

8th Global Conference on Human Development, 2012 Countdown Begins
The 8th Global Conference on Human Development, 2012 is knocking on the door. All the activities of ICA Nepal are concentrated on its preparation.

Kushendra Mahat, Executive Director and Ishu Subba, Conference Secretary had a meeting with Prof. Dr. Suresh Raj Sharma, one of Key Note Speakers of the conference. The meeting focused on the topic he would be speaking in the conference.

We are very excited with the last minute preparation of the conference kit arrangement, volunteer recruitment, cultural show rehearsal, etc.

Pre conference interaction in our virtual site www.virtual.ica-nepal.org is going on. We are very happy to share that Sur Sudha, known as Nepals Musical Ambassadors, making music disseminate a universal message of peace and harmony, is performing at the inaugural ceremony of the conference. Young school children are also preparing for presenting Nepali cultural dance to your guests.
Mr. Robet Piper, National Representative of UNDP for Nepal agreed to join the Youth Conference as a guest speaker.

Ishu Subba           ishu@ica-nepal.org

TAIWAN:        October 01 2012

Events:
-Styleflex session with the International Coaching Federation Association was conducted by Dick and Gail West in Taipei.

- International NGO Conference held a one day Open Space with 75 people by Gail West at Tai Da University in English.

- HuaGuang Girls High School Module 2 - "Co-Creating Our Future" at Nanning, Guangxi, China was held on September 1, 2 & 3 by Evelyn, Jorie and Jackie with 30 teachers in attendance.  This was our second module for Sowers Action Hong Kong at the HuaGuang Girls High School teachers training. We used the 4 D Appreciative Inquiry model of strategic planning and personal planning as well as Social Artistry on 1 & 2nd and an in-class ORID follow-up training and observation were held in English, Physics and Geography on Monday Sept 3rd. Three TUV Shanghai staff joined the program through their TUV Cares Corporate Responsibility Program and five staff from Sowers Action Hong Kong participated as well. 

- IAF Asia was held in mainland China at Shen Zhen hosted by Mark Pixley and Karen Lim of Leadership Inc. Larry was on the organizing committee and conducted workshops at the program. Jorie and Jackie also offered a session on Dialogue.  Jackie is the regional IAF representative.  70 English speaking participants attended and a number of people from Taiwan and China trained by ICA Taiwan were in attendance.  Larry had several conversations about expanding ICA work in China

- First Community Development Introduction Course in China was conducted by Larry Philbrook in Shenzhen with 25 participants from NGO and Company development programs across China.  Karen Lim is beginning a year long program with one group in Shanghai. Other possible projects in Beijing and Western China are possible.

- Truth About Life on “What is a good Life” was held and Dreamworks weekend took a break while Dick and Gail enjoyed a long cleansing retreat in Koi Samui, Thaliand in late September. 

Peer to Peer:
- Weekly Meetings on Blessed Unrest continue by skype with Dick West, Marianna and Bill Bailey and David Rebstock

- Nepal Conference is heating up with the Sherpa and Theme groups combining efforts with the Virtual Conference. 

- Gail West votes for new Board member, Martin Gilbraith to complete the slate and expand the new GLT leadership for ICAs. 

Challenges:
- Keeping our eyes on new possibilities for program in Taiwan and China while supporting Nepal and the GLT. 

Future:
-Working with a group from Beijing on possible facilitator training

-Committed to year long training with group in Shanghai on Creative Facilitation

-In dialogue with ICFT (Coaching) for working with them

-Evelyn leaves for Nepal next week to work with the prep team

Evelyn Kurihara Philbrook for ICA Taiwan Team           icataiw@gmail.com

UNITED STATES:         November 01 2012

4750 N. Sheridan Rd. Popular on Tour
The ICA building at 4750 N. Sheridan Rd., also known as GreenRise Uptown, was on the tour for Open House Chicago and was one of the most popular sites with almost 750 people visiting the buildings first and sixth floors.

Open House Chicago is an annual citywide architectural tour operated by the Chicago Architecture Foundation. The event showcased 150 buildings over the weekend of October 13 and 14, 2012. The 4750 N. Sheridan Rd. building was the only location in Uptown to give people a full experience of the architecture and history of the 1920s-era building.

Lesley Showers, Building Manager, said 10 ICA volunteers introduced tour attendees to the history of the building, the ICA, and the sustainable initiatives currently underway, such as wind turbines and energy-efficient windows.

A lot of people were really surprised at all that's going on in the building, Lesley said. People were interested in volunteering, a couple were interested in becoming office tenants as well as residents in the building.

Nina Winn, Resilient Communities Coordinator, said that there were also people who wanted to collaborate on the ICA's sustainability projects.

Learning Basket Receives Funding for New Program
The curriculum for pre-school children will be piloted in early childhood classrooms and with a parent group in 2013 thanks to support from the Seabury Foundation.

The $15,000 from the Seabury Foundation will fund a pilot of the new Learning Basket School Readiness curriculum in two settings. The first would be in a low income Chicago early childhood classroom setting, with trained Learning Basket practitioners working with the readiness materials with four- and five-year-olds. The second setting would be in a Learning Basket Parent Group, with parents of four- and five-year-olds learning how to use the approach at home with their children. The ICA will select the pilot sites based on 2 main criteria: the settings compatibility with the program, and their ability to contribute to the programs success.

Throughout 2011 and 2012, the Learning Basket team focused on the development of a school readiness curriculum for four- and five-year-olds, their parents, and their caregivers. This work was based in the concepts that guide the original Learning Basket approach, including those of imaginal education and transformational learning.

The Seabury Foundation is a philanthropic organization that supports programs in arts and culture; health; conservation and the environment; human capacity building; children, youth and families; and education. This was the third grant the ICA has received from the Foundation.

Tom Wray           twray@ica-usa.org

UNITED STATES:         October 01 2012

Accelerate 77s Share Fair a Success!
The Sharing Approaches That Work Conference (SATW) or Share Fair, of the Accelerate 77 project, was held at Chicago's Truman College on September 15, 2012. With more than 400 people attending; the event was a resounding success.

In excess of 140 grassroots sustainability groups from 70 of Chicago's 77 community areas were present. Each organization showed their current activities, future plans and connected with others during the day-long conference.

Lisa Parker, a Consumer Affairs reporter for NBC5 Chicago, opened the event and welcomed the participants. Terry Bergdall, President and CEO of organizing sponsor: the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA), spoke along with Chicago Aldermen James Cappleman (46rd Ward) and Deborah Graham (29th Ward).

Karen Weigert, Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Chicago, gave the keynote address. She talked about the efforts of the city and its residents in improving the environment and creating sustainable systems in the city. She said it was thanks to those efforts that Chicago had in April been rated as one of the most sustainable large communities in the country.

Connection Seminars were also held throughout the day, covering topics including sustainable transportation, green economics, community organizing and innovation. The seminars were facilitated by supportive organizations such as Openlands, The Field Museum, the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Active Transportation Alliance, Energy Impact Illinois and Seven Generations Ahead.

"We couldnt be happier with the response and attendance at the Share Fair, said Bergdall. "We thank all the organizations and people who worked to make this the event a wonderful success.

The event was also broadcast live over the Internet via video. Highlights can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?vjzvo6eu0hGI.

50th Anniversary Artwork Unveiled
The artwork commissioned for the Institute of Cultural Affairs 50th Anniversary was unveiled at 4750 N. Sheridan in Chicago on September 13, 2012.

The unveiling of the artwork, Ocean of Devotion by Chicago artist Gina Alicea, was also part of an event for Business Partners, the Chamber for Uptown, where the ICA building is located.

The artwork contains more than 1,000 strips of cloth with handwritten messages from events and people across the world. Gina wove the strips like a quilt and veiled the piece with a semi-transparent blue cloth.

"There was such a wonderful energy in reading each of the pieces of cloth, reading them, ironing them to feel what I think they were feeling," Gina told the local newspaper, Inside-Booster, that covered the unveiling.

Ocean of Devotion is in the lounge of the ICA buildings sixth floor offices. A video of the presentation of the artwork is available here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb5TNOhfY7s

Global Archives Fall Sojourn Week 1 Report
A team of colleagues gathered last Monday and they have been stepping up to the task.
Among the 18 people working on the sixth floor of 4750 N. Sheridan are Christina Wolf of Oklahoma City University (a professional archivist); Beret Griffith of Northfield, MN; Jack and Judy Gilles of Litibu, Mexico; Steve Harrington of Costa Rica; Bud and Jan Ames of Corvallis, OR; Oliveanne and Jim Slotta of Denver, CO; Frank Knutson of Redlands, CA; Ken & Ruth Gilbert of Champaign, IL; Paul Noah of La Junta, CO; Marge Philbrook, Rosemary Albright, Sally Fenton, and Jean Long of Chicago; and Frances Moore of Omaha, NE.

Around the tables and in and out of the basement, people were engaged not only in archiving assets, but also beginning to curate collections and to write stories for our emerging collections.

Accomplishments for the first week are:

Accessioning Assets
The last 41 file cabinets in the basement accessioned (we know what is in each drawer)
22 boxes of additional files accessioned including four huge boxes from Hong Kong

100 audiotapes accessioned
National Town Meeting 76 files were sorted into 19 categories
Nine inches of 5th City slides and 13 inches of Town Meeting slides digitized

Curating Collections
Identified more than 75 collection themes like Academy and Imaginal Education.
Wrote a TM 76 Collection Curator Future-Focus 1st draft and identified some possible new user groups like the Transition Towns Movement.

Making stories
Practiced writing storyboards for collections with an image, a theme and using less than 40 words.
Listened to some Aboriginal stories about "traveling down the songlines."

The Archives Team is looking for new people to join the Sojourn for October. The team is urging everyone to consider coming to help, even for a day or so over the next month. They are truly discovering "What is the Future of our Past?"

Please comment below or drop them a line at fallsojourn@gmail.com.

Tom Wray           twray@ica-usa.org