The Inter-Council Network

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Inter-Council Network (ICN)

Formation	2006
Type	Non-Profit Organisation
Location	Canada
Fields	International Development, Public engagement, Non governmental organization, Civil Society Organization, Sustainable Development Goals
Website	http://icn-rcc.ca/home/

The Inter-Council Network (commonly known as ICN) is a coalition of the eight Provincial and Regional Councils for International Cooperation in Canada. The Councils included are: the British Columbia Council , the Alberta Council , the Saskatchewan Council , the Manitoba Council , the Ontario Council , The Québec Council , the Atlantic Council (covering New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island) , and the Northern Council (covering Nunavut, Yukon, Northwest Territories) . These member-based Councils are committed to global social justice and social change, and represent over 400 diverse civil society organizations (CSOs) from across Canada. As they are representing almost 400 CSOs, the ICN focuses on supporting small and medium sized civil society organizations and representing regional issues at the national level. The ICN provides a national forum in which the Councils collaborate for improved effectiveness and identify common priorities for collective action. The Councils are rooted in communities across Canada, and have a leadership role in public engagement at a local and regional level, bringing regional knowledge and priorities to the national level. The ICN program is undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through Global Affairs Canada.

History

The ICN was founded in 2006 through a collective effort of the Councils, and supported through Global Affairs Canada funding from 2007, the ICN has met and continues to address what they perceive to be key needs of the Canadian international development community. Each Provincial and Regional Council is also a member of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC), an Ottawa-based membership organization and partner of the Regional and Provincial Councils. Each Council’s membership spans from cultural community civil society organizations to highly recognizable international organizations. The ICN itself has partnered with national networks and organizations to ensure public engagement activities reach communities throughout Canada.

Some examples of activities ICN engaged in the past:

• In 2008 - 2011 Kaleidoscope REEL World Video Challenge, the ICN’s first collaborative project, inspired 89 youth and organizations to bring their perspectives on global issues to diverse Canadian audiences, and created over 108 video submissions on topics as diverse as the environment, stereotyping and stigma, and urban poverty. 
• In 2013, the Global Hive is launched, the go-to online Public Engagement toolkit, developed through regional and national consultations for over three years.
• In 2009, 2012 and 2015, the ICN ran major national polls focused on Canadian perspectives on international development to provide essential evidence for the changing landscape of Canadian engagement on international issues.
• Since 2010, the ICN’s national, bilingual webinars on topics from the Ebola crisis to the Post-2015 development agenda have reached thousands of Canadians from coast to coast to coast, ensuring broad access to timely knowledge on key issues facing our sector.
• In September 2015, The ICN sent 8 youth delegates to the UN Summit on Sustainable Development. They participated in UN dialogues, numerous civil society events, and met with the Hon. Christian Paradis, DFATD staff and other delegates.

Public Engagement

By public engagement, the ICN applies the practice of inspiring, supporting and challenging people in groups of dynamic cycles of learning, reflection and action on global issues. Public engagement works towards more equitable social, economic, environmental and political structures. In other words, engaging, not just educating, the public on the awareness of global issues to make the world a better place. Public engagement also been called “development education,” “global education,” “human rights education” and “environmental education.”

Programs

National Training Programs

This area includes capacity building through public engagement initiatives such as the Hive Mind: platform for self-paced courses hosted by the ICN. Courses such as: Engaging the Public for the Greater Good found through the official ICN website.

National Capacity Building Webinars

Another important resource the ICN provides for the sector at a national and regional level, is its' capacity-building webinars on timely issues pertinent to the sector and Global Affairs Canada’s thematic priorities. Webinars range from topics such as: Preventing and Addressing Sexual Misconduct, An Approach to Development Innovation, Gender Equality to support SMOs applying to GAC’s Development Impact Window, Domestic Workers Have Rights, Seeing Change with Results-Based Management, Health Proposal Writing for GAC, and much more.

Communications

Platforms for public awareness and engagement are used such as: The Global Hive - a section linked to the ICN website that is the online Public Engagement toolkit that brings together the work of experts from across the country in one engaging, bilingual, online space.

Research, Polls, and Analysis

Conducting and disseminating the results of evidence-based, participatory research and analysis such as: Canadian Engagement on Global Poverty Issues.

External Links

Official Website

Inter-Council Network

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