About Congresses and conferences

ICA Events: Addressing the Issues 

Events represent one of the main methods deployed by ICA to coordinate activities for and engage with its community. Every year, at least one major governance and professional programme event is organised. In practice, however, the year is also filled with a rich variety of meetings and events involving all sections of the archival community. 

At ICA, governance takes place via General Assemblies, Executive Board and Programme Commission meetings, in addition to the Steering Committee meetings organised and held by the ICA Branches and Sections throughout any given year. Bringing ICA members together for decision-making purposes is critical to maintaining the association’s democratic character, as well as to ensuring that our strategies are regularly adapted to the needs of our community. 

Every fourth year, an International Council on Archives Congress is organised. Congresses are crucial events for ICA. Each has a densely packed professional programme typically offering several days of workshops, parallel sessions, meeting, and keynote addresses. Congresses also provide an excellent opportunity for members of our community to meet in a social context, with networking possibilities to facilitate discussions and a chance to rekindle bonds for colleagues rarely able to meet in person. 

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Every second year (excluding Congress years), there is also a Biennial Conference, with a programme of lectures, panel sessions, workshops and discussions organised around current professional challenges and issues. Similar to Congresses but on a smaller scale, Conferences offer members the same opportunities to participate in a broad programme of talks and events and to meet like-minded professionals from across the globe. 

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ICA Branches and Sections also hold their own events, mostly conferences, which are often financially supported by the Programme Commission (PCOM) Details of these may be found here. 

ICA sometimes works with partners in organising events, or in offering them support in one form or another, for example by providing experts to make presentations or deliver workshops. Working with partners in the international environment is a key aspect of ICA’s mission, so these opportunities are a highly valued component of our work.