ICAI Board Report:

Dear all ICA members

Recently we sent you the General Assembly Minutes and a survey by Survey Monkey, please take a minute to read it and answer the survey.

Also I want to inform you that there are going to be 2 regional meetings:

1. West Africa Regional Meeting in Lagos, Nigeria from October 14th to 20th,
2. Asian Pacific Regional Meeting from November 12 to 16 in 2018 at Taiwan

I also encourage you to read and send out articles to the Global Buzz and Winds & Waves, as a way to communicate globally.

Regards

Lisseth Lorenzo
ICAI President
president@ica-international.org
Skype: lissethl

The new Winds and Waves magazine We are delighted to invite you to share your stories via medium.com/winds-and-waves which is the public platform we have moved to now, to publish Winds & Waves. Please see the attachment which sets out how you can now personally publish your stories for Winds and Waves magazine. See here W&W@Medium PDF

INDIA:

Chikhale School
Curriculum Enhancement Consultation

Working together, ICA India and Emerging Ecology have secured a grant from the Fulbright-Nehru Specialist Program to send Dr. Randal Hayes, a curriculum specialist with Agnosia Media in Greensboro, North Carolina, to Chikhale for 40 days beginning November 12, 2018. 

• a) clarify the specific employment needs of local businesses and entrance qualifications for institutions of higher learning,
  b) design supplemental tools to augment the existing curriculum and train the school faculty to implement these needs and qualifications within their current schedules and
  c) develop ways that Chikhale graduates can take a mobile science laboratory into their home villages and help the tribal communities participate in the modern world.

Since 1987, when the initial group of 25 first grade students began attending the Adivasi Ashram Shalla in Chikhale Village, the Chikhale School has been providing high quality basic education using approved Maharashtra State government curriculum.  In 2010, the school was authorized to expand its offerings to include classes in the Science track as well as the Business and Arts track through the 12th grade.  This year, 700 tribal students are attending classes in grades 1 through 12.  Most of the students live, eat and study at the facility which is managed and supported by the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) India.  Several of the 12th grade graduates have gone on to colleges and trade schools, many are seeking employment in surrounding areas.

Since the initial Skype call in 2011, Emerging Ecology has been working with the Chikhale School to conduct a Global Classroom as a supplement to its standard curriculum.  This aspect of the school’s Science track curriculum has connected the Chikhale students to high school students in North Carolina through periodic Skype conversations.  Over the duration of this program more than 200 Chikhale students have been exposed to the larger possibilities of a global society.  This has motivated them to continue their studies and given them pride in their school.  At the beginning of the 2018-19 school year, a group of students at Greensboro’s Grimsley High School formed the Grimsley Global Classroom Club to enhance their participation in this project.  Dr. Hayes’ curriculum enhancements will strengthen the Chikhale student’s capacity to participate in the Skype conversations.  The topics covered in the conversations will allow greater depth and significance in the discussions among the students.

Tax-deductible contributions to this project can be made on-line using the Donate to Chikhale button on the Emerging Ecology website at www.EmergingEcology.org/Donate or by sending a check to Emerging Ecology at 5911 Western Trail, Greensboro, NC   27410.

F. Nelson Stover           nstover@emergingecology.org

ICA NEPAL:

Providing Opportunities for a Disadvantaged Group
ICA Nepal in coordination with the ICA Training Center is going to host a free three month cook training course. The training will be especially beneficial to youth who are unemployed. Additionally by taking this short term basic cooking course, they will have a general knowledge of cooking that will enhance their opportunity for employment or in the establishment of small business of their own. The training is supported by the government of Nepal and the Education ministry under the EVENT project. The training is free of cost.

Global Giving: Let's Talk Period
ICA Nepal has always been actively promoting the menstrual hygiene management programs, especially in schools. We have conducted several programs in the rural parts of Nepal to eradicate the taboos related to menstruation. Continuing our work, last month we collaborated with ICA Japan to collect donations for the project through Global Giving. Hence, September was the last month for donations. Both ICA Nepal and ICA Japan promoted the project in their networking. ICA Nepal is glad to work in association with ICA Japan. We hope to continue the menstrual hygiene management awareness program in the coming months too as it is an abhorrent issue in Nepal.

Welcoming an ICA Japan Colleague
ICA Nepal warmly welcomed the Structural engineer, Dr. Toshio Okoshi from ICA Japan last month. ICA Nepal is constructing a Community Training Center in Sindhupalchowk. The project is supported by Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Japan and ICA Japan. Dr. Okoshi spent two weeks in Nepal to observe the construction activities. In this regard, he visited Sindhupalchowk and the construction site of Training Center, which was carried out under his supervision.

Leadership Style training for ICA Nepal staff
To enhance the capacity of the organizational staff, ICA Nepal arranged a short leadership Style Training course for the staff on the last Friday of September 2018. This capacity building training was facilitated by Mr. Atma Ram Timsina, who is a professional trainer, and has been associated with ICA Nepal since it's establishment. The training was designed to help the organization run in a smooth and efficient manner. In the first half the staff were given a short form to fill in. In the second half the filled in forms were analyzed by the facilitator and the leadership style of each member of staff was determined. The training was very interesting.

Deepa Lama           deepalama63@gmail.com

Program Officer
Institute of Culture Affairs (ICA) Nepal

UNITED STATES:

Plans and Places on the Uptown Garden Walk

“I never paid any attention to this space until I was asked to get involved,” says Ian Whiting of the humble garden plot in Uptown’s Sunnyside Mall, adopted in 2016 by students at Courtenay Elementary’s Budding Gardeners program. Ian was one of several enthusiastic Uptown residents representing their neighborhood gardens during ICA-USA’s Third Annual Uptown Garden Walk on September 8th, 2018. His hospitality was visible by a table full of flyers, pamphlets, and Sunnyside Mall beverage koozies. His favorite item, however, was a binder showing how the space has changed over the years.Flipping excitedly to an image of the Mall from the 1970s, Ian remarked that it’s almost unrecognizable now. He hopes that the changes keep coming in the form of neighbors adopting more of the available plots and attending festivities he’s planning for families in the neighborhood.

Ian’s enthusiasm and deep concern for his neighborhood epitomize the spirit of the Uptown Garden Walk. All over Uptown, the community in which ICA-USA is based, people are proud of their community gardens, which often serve as neighborhood gathering spaces. Whether an event space like Sunnyside Mall, an organic vegetable garden like Ginkgo Gardens, or a scenic passthrough for walkers and joggers like Buena Peace Garden, Uptown’s gardens are worth celebrating.

In addition to highlighting neighborhood gardens, this year’s Garden Walk featured two guided tours. In “Trees of Uptown”, Andrew Lueck, a consulting arborist with Planned Forest Solutions, returned for a second year to amaze attendees with the tragedies that can befall urban trees—most live less than a year, and some of the oldest become the subject of lawsuits or the victims of construction projects such as the Lakeshore Trail separation currently underway in Chicago.

Urban development and public green spaces inevitably intersect, a theme explored by ICA-USA colleagues Melanie Eckner and Susan Ask on their “No Small Plans” tour, which followed both literally and figuratively the pedestrian paths imagined by famed landscape architect Alfred Caldwell in the 1930s. It turns out that ideas now gaining traction in Chicago’s sustainability landscape, such as honoring natural stormwater drainage and prioritizing native wildflowers, were prominent in Caldwell’s vision for Uptown nearly a hundred years prior. It leaves one to wonder what other lessons from the past might inform the work of the future?

Links: ICA USA Website | Facebook Album

Andrew Clayton           aclayton@ica-usa.org

Irina Fursman           irina.fursman@huelife.ccsend.com

ICA Canada

From people who use The Courage to Lead (CTL) in their work:
“Many of us can master techniques. But transformative leadership which releases the spirit and possibilities of the group and individuals we serve is more than techniques. It is about how we show up, what we value, our relationship to our work and life.” (Jane Stallman, Founder and Senior Partner for Strategic Facilitation) 
“Reading The Courage to Lead, and participating in the course first as a student then as a facilitator, makes me realise that I can create positive change in the world any time, on a large or small scale – and that in fact I already do – simply by relating authentically to myself, to all parts of life, and to everyone I meet along the journey.” (Sara B., University Health Network) 
“I definitely look at problem-solving in a new way, instead of just working to change everything, I have new insights on what makes a great leader.” (Anonymous)

CTL Facilitators:
Ekta Bromley has over a decade of experience in the fields of Education, Adult Education, Organizational & Leadership Development. She has a keen ongoing interest in the applications of discourse and community development theories to the construction of social structures and realities. As a ‘happily transformed’ alumna of the Courage to Lead program (and a proud proponent of participatory planning methodologies), she is grateful for the ability to meaningfully contribute to positive social change through the brilliance of ICA’s impactful resources and results.

David Buwalda is a professional facilitator with 15 years experience across four continents. He is the former General Manager of ICA Canada and is co-owner of Haliburton County Coffee Roasters Inc.

Jo Nelson is a respected, prolific guru in the facilitation field. She’s one of the principal owners of ICA Associates Inc. and the lead for all the training and curriculum. She is also the author of several books. Jo is a founding member of the International Association of Facilitators and is on the Hall of Fame of IAF.

Jeanette Stanfield is an educator with a Master of Arts degree who first encountered the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) in a local community on the west side of Chicago. Since that time Jeanette has worked with ICA in Australia, India, USA and Canada and is currently on the board of ICA Canada.

Staci Kentish is a former ICA Canada Program Director with over 12 years of leadership development experience. Her passion lies in enabling conversations about leadership with those who are open to more compassionate possibilities. Much of Staci’s professional experience has been working with young people and early career professionals to facilitate productive dialogue, support individual growth and create participatory processes that encourage shared leadership.

Please note that we’ll be using “The Courage to Lead” book for the study which can be purchased separately on Amazon or iUniverse. 

Virginia          virginia@icacan.org

GLOBAL ARCHIVES

      Creating The Future Of Our Past        

Inviting you to attend the:

What areas would you like to assist us with as we make them visible to the world? We are currently working on these four areas: Social Change Process (New Social Vehicle);  Changing Images; Facilitation Methods; Interior LIfe. Include your priorities in the registration information you email to jean.long512@gmail.com - see lower down.

The work of the Archives week will include:

1. Assessing what is going on in the world and in our work presently.
2. Searching the Archives to document past wisdom.
3. Creating web pages with photos, videos, articles, programs that will showcase the work of the past and present.

Cheap flight sales are on now.  No previous archive experience needed.  Anyone who can -- come in early to help with prep (from Thursday, 10/18 on).
For additional information, please call Jean Long (720-633-5008) or email jean.long512@gmail.com.  (For registration information see below.)

PARTICIPANT PRACTICS:

Dates:  October 21 (Sunday arrival) * - October 27 (Saturday departure)

Location:
ICA Greenrise Learning Lab,
4750 N. Sheridan Rd., Chicago, IL 60640

Sleeping rooms on the 8th floor – Couples - $45.00;   Singles – $30.00 (per bed) (Rooms across from the bathrooms go first.)

Food - $30 per day for 3 meals (Monday through Friday)

Parking fee -  $7.50/day: $45.00/Sunday - Saturday

Conference fee - $30.00 to cover conference materials and expenses

Payment:  Visa, MasterCard, Discover Card, Check

To register:  e-mail Jean Long   jean.long512@gmail.com **

**When you send in your e-mail registration to Jean Long - jean.long512@gmail.com please include the following information:

1. Name(s) address, e-mail and phone number of those registering.
2. Dates of arrival and departure
3. List two or three priority areas that you would like to work with while you are here. (Chart on the first page of this invitation.)

*Anyone who can - come in early to help with prep (from Thursday 10/18 on).

Jean Long            jean.long512@gmail.com