Resources - Articles - Links - Conversations

Over the past 40 years of work in communities, organizations and classrooms, the Institute of Cultural Affairs, ICA, has developed methods that enable groups to maximize meaningfully engagment. Through practical action research and applied learning, ICA has created practical tools that enable groups to think and plan together effectively.

ICA's T echnologies of Participation (ToP) have been developed to help groups think, talk and work together and provides group facilitators with structured methods. Our approach enables people to actively create and participate in the changes that affect them - in their own lives, in their groups, teams and organisations, and in their communities and societies. ICA’s ToP programs and methods are used by nonprofit organizations, government agencies, businesses, professional associations and communities around the world.

ToP methods focus on

• Participation – enabling everyone to meaningfully engage in group decision making
• Collaboration – helping people work together and develop team spirit
• Creativity – sparking innovative solutions and new strategies
• Commitment - eliciting the participation that generates commitment to results
• Action – ensuring that strategies, plans and decisions are implemented
• Learning – reflecting on experience to deepen organizational knowledge

For those new to ICA's work, these resources can help you understand our approach to facilitation.

For those who use ToP facilitation methods, we hope these resources will enable you to enhance your practice.

We welcome articles and resourses developed by ToP users. To sumbit an article for publication on our website, please send it to us. We'll review it and, perhaps, work with you in editing for final publication. Your thoughts, stories and new applications will be valuable to facilitators around the world.