In 1962, a group of young activists joined the staff of the Ecumenical Institute in Chicago. Fifty years later, the EI and the Institute of Cultural Affairs are collectively celebrating a half century of history and work by looking forward to the next 50 years.

The Institute of Cultural Affairs in the U.S.A. (ICA-USA), incorporated in 1972, plans to host an event to commemorate each of these 50 years. At each event, people will discuss where the ICA-USA will go in the next half century. They will add their names and thoughts to strips of cloth to be incorporated into an artwork to be created by Chicago artist Gina Alicea. The finished artform will be displayed at the ICA building in Chicago.

Awakening the Dreamer
The first of the 50 events took place in Binghamton, NY, with the “Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream” symposium at Broome Community College. The symposium was a Pachamama Alliance program. “I saw the event capture the interest and participation of both experienced activists and people new to thinking of themselves as having something important to give in creating the future,” said colleague and event organizer Janice Ulangca. “Work in pairs and small groups alternated with excellent DVD presentations by people such as Desmond Tutu, Thomas Berry, Matthew Fox, Thich Nhat Hanh, Wangari Mathai, Paul Hawken (author of Blessed Unrest) and Rob Hopkins (Transition Communities).”

The closing circle at a symposium held at Broome Community College, Binghamton, NY.  The event, a Pachamama Alliance program called Awakening the Dreamer, was the first of 50 celebratory events organised by ICA-USA.

Representatives of ten local co-sponsors of the symposium gave short reports on current activities of their respective groups. Organizations sending representatives included the Centers for Community Engagement from both Binghamton University and Broome Community College, groups that focus on political information and activism, and a coalition that works on the environment issues and local small business development. The Peace with Justice Committee of the Broome County Council of Churches recruited the co-sponsors, handled publicity, registration, and provided food. The facilitation team for the symposium had traveled from Ithaca and Hunter Mountain, NY, and Baltimore, MD, to volunteer for the event.

Learning Basket

Think Tank Team.   click to enlarge for names

The ICA-USA’s Learning Basket Think Tank was the next event two weeks later. Held at the ICA building in Chicago, the gathering provided participants the opportunity to share perspectives gained after working for many years with 16 organizations in the Chicago and Phoenix area as well as with a variety of cultural groups.

In the early 1960s before the advent of Head Start, the ICA developed a research-based approach to the education of children from infants to three years old. This approach was developed in the 5th City Preschool Institute which included an Infant School and a Mini School for toddlers. For the past 15 years, ICA-USA has continued this pioneering work in the Learning Basket program, which has reached underserved families in seven states in the United States as well as internationally.

Below is a link to a YouTube movie. An introduction to ICA's historical roots and current work. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maeGOqDs6CE

The practitioners pooled their perspectives and experience to determine the critical strategic actions needed to position the Learning Basket approach as a resource to address the concern for School Readiness.

The group determined that the program emphasizes the power of cultural differences and identity, and the importance of socio-emotional development for both children and parents. The result is a much-needed emphasis on programs concerned with children’s learning success.

Chicago communities

One of the small discussion groups during the ICA Board reception in Chicago on Nov 7 last year. Among the issues discussed at the reception was a project to highlight sustainable development efforts in each of Chicago’s 77 community areas.

The ICA-USA Board held a reception on November 7. ICA-USA President and CEO Terry Bergdall spoke to the gathered Board members and the Resilient Communities Initiatives Advisory Board to talk about the goals and hopes of the Accelerating Change in 77 Communities project. The project is a year-long effort to gather and highlight the sustainable development efforts in each of Chicago’s 77 community areas, ending with a share fair at the ICA in September 2012.

The event will involve community groups, businesses, and agencies of city, state, and national government. A report on the 77 neighborhood sustainable initiatives will document successful local undertakings and key lessons learned in their implementation. These will be shared electronically with neighborhoods and nonprofit organizations across Chicago.

The “Sharing Approaches that Work Conference” will help encourage and accelerate local efforts while catalyzing follow-up work in Chicago’s community areas during the next two years through training workshops, local share fairs, and collaboration efforts between neighborhood groups to build a common vision.

The anticipated result will be multiple local initiatives which will significantly contribute to the success of the Chicago Climate Action Plan by 2020. The ICA-USA is the organizing sponsor with current co-sponsors Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, Millennia Consulting, LLC, Heartland Alliance, Faith in Place Transition USA and others. Over the next six months, the ICA-USA envisions creating many alliances for building sustainable resilient Chicago communities.

Sharing Conference
More events have been planned, with the sharing conference in September 2012 being the peak event. Already, 15 events have been set up across the United States and in Europe and Nepal. Events in December included a “surprise” birthday party for ICA colleague Richard Alton in Chicago and the Courage to Lead book study group in Oakland, CA. Events in January included the ICA-UK Annual Meeting and Conference in Manchester, the Grassroots Participation in Community Change in Greensboro, NC, and the Technology of Participation (ToP) Annual Meeting in Sacramento, CA. 

All colleagues are welcome to host an event in support of the 50 events. Information and advice on how to host an event is available on the ICA-USA website at:
www.ica-usa.org/?page=50thanniversary.

The events are focused on discussion, education and planning, not fundraising. If you would like to organize a 50th anniversary event in your area, just contact any of the colleagues below:
Judy Lindblad - nj.lindblad@gmail.com
Ellen Howie - rhowie3@verizon.net
Janice Ulangca - aulangca@stny.rr.com
Ester Mae Cox - missestermae@gmail.com