This post was first published in ICAI’s monthly bulletin the Global Buzz.

This past month the ICAI Board has mostly been busy with preparing to launch a major new survey of the ICA global network.  This is intended primarily to help ICAs and ICA people to know each other better, to facilitate peer to peer support and collaboration. It also includes questions to indicate how ICAs meet the ICAI membership criteria, to enable the ICAI Board and GA to monitor that and take membership decisions, and questions on UN activity to enable ICAI to report on that to maintain our UN status.  Thank you to the many people from around the world who provided rich feedback on the draft survey, we were delighted that we heard from so many of you.  We are now finalising and translating the revisions to the survey, in order to circulate the survey very soon to around 40 locations, in English, French and Spanish.

We have begun some initial conversations with ICAI’s volunteer communications team in order to look at developing and streamlining our website, publications and  communications more broadly.  We are now scheduling a larger online meeting to take this forward, so please get in touch if you have expertise in this area and might be willing to get involved.

We have approved a proof of the second edition of Changing Lives Changing Societies: ICA’s Experience in Nepal and the World, and we are expecting it to be available soon worldwide on a print-on-demand basis from Amazon and other retailers.

The ICAI 2012 audit report has been drafted and will be ready to circulate shortly – we are grateful to Bill Staples and ICA Canada for their support with this.

We are now scheduling the next online regional gatherings in late August.  These are an opportunity for all involved or interested in ICA globally to connect with each other and with ICAI, to facilitate peer-to-peer support and collaboration in our shared mission of advancing human development worldwide.  Please join us if you can! There will be three gatherings at different times of day to suit the three regions – the earlier time for Asia, the middle time for Europe/MENA/Africa and the later time for the Americas.  However you are welcome to attend whichever suits you best (or more than one), and the exact times can also be adjusted if needed. Please follow the link below to indicate which dates and times would suit you best, wherever you are – please respond to the poll by Monday 17 June at http://www.doodle.com/n9e96ncscy5v5854

The aims & agenda of the gatherings will be broadly as in March:

Meeting Aims
1.    to connect ICAs and ICA colleagues with each other, and help to build & strengthen relationships between them
2.    to share information and facilitate peer-to-peer support and collaboration among ICAs and ICA colleagues
3.    to hold ICAI accountable to its members, and seek input & support to strengthen our global network and advance our global mission

Meeting agenda
1.    opening, welcome & introductions
2.    review & agree agenda
3.    ICA reports – highlights, questions & reflection
4.    ICAI report – membership, activity & finance; questions, feedback & reflection
5.    Items particular to each meeting:
a.    Global network survey findings
b.    Global communications
6.    Reflection & close

We look forward to hearing from you!