ICA Canada

09/30/2026

Still time to Register!

🌳Our next Awe Walk is on Saturday October 3 in Toronto.

Please join us for an interactive walk-based exploration of opportunities to experience awe through your relationship with the natural world, of which you are part. By tuning into your senses, exploring different ways of perceiving yourself in relationship with nature, and noticing your responses to new experiences, you can learn to feel awe in many ways.

You will be guided in this 2-hour experience by Paul Overy and Anne Fleming on a walk in Toronto’s Rennie Park on Saturday, October 3, 2026, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

For more details and to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/october-3-2026-awe-walk-in-rennie-park-tickets-2000530372196?aff=oddtdtcreator

09/30/2026

09/22/2026

🌳Our next Awe Walk is on Saturday October 3 in Toronto.

Please join us for an interactive walk-based exploration of opportunities to experience awe through your relationship with the natural world, of which you are part. By tuning into your senses, exploring different ways of perceiving yourself in relationship with nature, and noticing your responses to new experiences, you can learn to feel awe in many ways.

You will be guided in this 2-hour experience by Paul Overy and Anne Fleming on a walk in Toronto’s Rennie Park on Saturday, October 3, 2026, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

For more details and to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/october-3-2026-awe-walk-in-rennie-park-tickets-2000530372196?aff=oddtdtcreator

09/21/2026

Congratulations to the ICA Nepal team on the success of their CTL Youth training

08/27/2026

At this difficult time in Nepal, we are especially thinking of our colleagues and friends at ICA Nepal and the communities they work alongside.

We recognize the strength of communities coming together in times of crisis and send our deepest care to everyone affected.

08/13/2026

Earlier today, ICA Canada held the second monthly Courage to Lead (CTL) Global Community of Practice meeting, with 16 participants from Canada, China, Nepal, Zimbabwe and Kenya in attendance.

As part of this meeting, ICA Nepal shared highlights from their recent three-day, in-person CTL Guide Training — bringing their experiences, and ideas into the wider community.

We also had a great conversation about using stories to illustrate CTL concepts. Some of the insights included the importance of deep listening without interruption, using small moments from our own lives, and sharing the context, challenge, action and impact of a story. We also talked about choosing stories that connect with different audiences, and knowing when we have enough distance from an experience to be ready to share it.

What stands out in these global conversations is that we don't all experience or approach CTL in the same way — and that's the point. Our differences become part of the learning.

An experience from Nepal can spark an idea in Kenya. A perspective from China can add something new to a conversation in Canada or Zimbabwe. By sharing what is working, what is challenging us, and what we are discovering, we deepen our understanding of the work — and of one another.

07/21/2026

Last Friday, members of the ICA Canada team met to prepare to celebrate an incredible milestone - our 50th anniversary!

This fall will be an opportunity to honour the people, stories, and achievements that have shaped The Canadian Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA Canada) over the past five decades, while also looking ahead with creativity, and purpose to the next chapter.

We were grateful to Board Chair Dwayne Cline for leading us through both a Focused Converstaion and a Consensus Workshop, utilizing ToP Methodologies, with Adriana Gasper, Staci Kentish, Jeanette Stanfield, Bob Jeffery and Emily Marks participating.

The team is excited about the celebrations being planned and the meaningful conversations that will emerge as CICA reflects on its legacy and considers the possibilities ahead.

There is much to celebrate, much to remember, and much to anticipate.

Stay tuned as more details about the 50th anniversary festivities will be coming soon!

07/15/2026

Another group of Awe walkers spotted in Toronto!

Last Saturday, participants joined guides Paul Overy and Anne Fleming for an Awe Walk where we slowed down to notice the extraordinary in the everyday.

Together we experienced:
🎶 The chorus of frogs and cicadas alongside the familiar tune of an ice cream truck.
💦"This is living water" — ponds alive with frogs, dragonflies, and countless forms of life.
🫐Wild blackberries shared at the end of the walk.
🔍 A surprise geocache discovery!

As always, the group shared rich insights from their reflections.

One reflection resonated deeply with the group: "We are harming ourselves by harming the Earth."

Recommended readings, including Awe by Dacher Keltner and Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, both powerful reminders of our relationship with the natural world.

Thank you to Paul, Anne, and everyone who joined us for another awe-some afternoon!

06/30/2026

Last Saturday, 8 participants and one canine enjoyed an Awe Walk in Rennie Park, Toronto led by the incredible guides Paul Overy and Anne Fleming. This is the second year that ICA Canada has co-hosted this event.

Together we slowed down, awakened our senses, and explored the land with curiosity and attention. We also paid attention to aspects of the book The Courage to Lead as a way to ground in this reflective time together. Through sensory exercises, tactile experiences, and opportunities to look more closely at the world around us, participants discovered that awe can be found in the ordinary when we take the time to notice what is around us.

Along the way, we also enjoyed listing to the birds which included songs by a red-eyed vireo, eastern kingbird, cedar waxwing, and great crested flycatcher.

And, we also had fun exploring how awe can be expressed —what does your awe face look like? 😊

If you'd like to experience a reflective walk for yourself that combines nature, curiosity, and meaningful conversation, please join us at our next Awe Walk!

📅 Saturday, July 11th from 3-4:30pm
For more details and to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/july-11-2026-awe-walk-in-rennie-park-tickets-1991424792161?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

06/30/2026

Congratulations to ICA Nepal on their 3 Day In-Person Guide Training event!