The Institute of Cultural Affairs is a demonstration and training organization concerned with the human factor in world development. Its aim is to act as catalyst to people in variety of circumstances and situations to take responsibility for their own development. The origins and evolution of the institute have never been formally written in any great depth, but the beginnings bear only a vague resemblance to the organization that has emerged.

In 1952 the Christian Faith and Life Community was founded by Christian students and the faculty of the University of Austin, Texas to explore how and where their faith was relevant to the social issues of the day.

In 1962 a member of this group became the director of the Ecumenical Institute, a training center set up by the World Council of Churches, eight years previously in Evanston, Illinois. They taught a number of religious and social seminars which stressed the need for individuals to take responsibility for their own action.

It was the desire to put the theory behind these seminars into practice which lead to the move to Fifth city, a black ghetto on the West-side of Chicago, which had almost become derelict and abandoned. They discovered that the biggest block to the development was people's self-image, the belief that they were the helpless victims of social forces beyond their control. The ICA worked side by side with local residents to set up pre-schools, community work days to clean the streets, neighborhood watch schemes to make the place safer and numerous festivities and celebrations. Soon the community began to believe in itself.

It was in the wake of the 1968 riots, that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King, when the institute's continued presence was requested, that they began to see the possibility of the Fifth City experiment being repeated to local communities across the world. It began to be felt that it was not appropriate for the church to be the major focus in the diverse communities where the organization now worked. The Institute of Cultural Affairs which had been administer their secular programs and activities took on a much stronger role.

In 1975-1976 twenty-four Human Development Projects were launched in communities worldwide. Many of these projects soon became the basis for an expansion or replication programmed, transferring the methods of local development laterally to other surrounding communities. During this period, there was active recruitment of national staff, with a variety of religious and social backgrounds. In the 1980s the emphasis has been on "sharing approaches that work" The International Exposition of Rural  Development was a three-year program in exchanging successful rural development approaches, organized by the institute. The ICA is now working with a number of individuals and organizations to create common training and development programs for the future.

One of the major areas where the ICA differs from other development organizations is in its belief that effective development must not exclude anyone from its process. It has therefore seen the need to make its experience in dealing with problems in motivation and participation available in business, education and non-governmental organizations (NGO's). LENS (Leadership, Effectiveness and New Strategies) was developed as a planning method which encourage active participation of all staff at all levels.