The Institute of Cultural Affairs

ICA is today a global network of private, non-profit, non-governmental organisations, concerned with the human factor in world development.

Since 1973 it has worked to develop, test and demonstrate effective approaches to personal, organisational and social transformation. See our history

Autonomous national ICAs operate in nearly 30 countries world-wide, federated under the Institute of Cultural Affairs International (ICAI).

ICA International has:

• Category II Consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
• Liaison status with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
• Working Relation status with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and
• Consultative status with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
• It is a member of CIVICUS, the World Alliance for Citizen Participation.

Culture

ICA also represents a global movement united by historical connections and a shared global culture, and by its active concern with 'the human factor in world development'. This concern has been articulated by way of explanation of our usage of the word 'culture':

"For us, 'culture' is a practical reality - the images, patterns and shared understandings which allow us to do something together. At the heart of ICA's work is the conviction that long-term, sustainable development happens only when people grasp the significance of their own lives in the larger scheme of things, when they actively participate in the changes taking place around them instead of merely being targets of that change.

One principle prevails - the desire to release the creativity of the people involved and allow them to help to shape their own destiny" (ICAI 1996).