Ten years ago, Vincent Delgado, director of the Program on Sustainability in Costa Rica, began leading study abroad trips centered around civic engagement, in collaboration with community partners. These trips allow students to get to know communities by connecting and building friendships within the community.

The trip has expanded from 2-months to an entire semester in Costa Rica, where students conduct community participatory research, while learning different research methodologies. In turn, the research published by the students is translated into Spanish and the knowledge is returned to the community.

Each group of students build off the research from the previous year’s findings to continue the cycle of knowledge and development. Over the years, the study abroad trip has resulted in a network of Costa Rican partners who are invested in the students and their research of the community.