Facilitating Engagement among Academic and Community Partners: The Monteverde Institute’s View from the Middle

Researchers have recommended operative standards and ethical considerations to maintain the integrity of community engaged scholarship programs. This framework is valuable for guiding good practices and promoting enhancements. Implementation of these considerations in actual programs provides experiential knowledge and reveals additional considerations due to the distinctive nature of each program. This article presents a descriptive overview of the Monteverde Institute’s history and model in its application of community engaged scholarship in Costa Rica. As a reflective exercise, I discuss the Monteverde Institute’s successes and challenges as related to six principles put forth by scholars. As witnessed by its practices, the Monteverde Institute endorses these important concepts and I provide specific examples of the implementation and customization of these principles in different situations. As a result of this review, I outline the beneficial role provided by the Monteverde Institute as an intermediary, on-site institution in the facilitation of community engaged scholarship. The Monteverde Institute is an academic, research, and community organization that provides both academic structure and community project coordination to its partners. It views community engaged scholarship from different perspectives and guides the applicability of programs to real situations in the region. These actions enable the Monteverde Institute to co-create respectful and functional partnerships. This is important for long-term sustained cooperation and in-depth community engaged scholarship. The process is continual, and I end this reflection with the question, what now? Answering this question, as it relates to the Monteverde Institute, may reveal aspects applicable for the advancement of community engaged scholarship in other regions.