ICYE Costa Rica/ ACI

Organisation

ACI is a non-profit organization with over 65 years of experience in connecting cultures and promoting global citizenship.

Our mission is to facilitate meaningful exchanges, volunteering opportunities, and other forms of non-formal international education, with a special focus on youth.

We are passionate about fostering personal growth by broadening horizons, developing new skills, and cultivating open and intercultural mindsets, while encouraging collaboration and contributing to a more peaceful world.

We are committed to ensuring that learning is at the heart of our programs, as well as generating a positive and sustainable impact on participants, projects, and host communities.

Programme

Thanks to its rich natural diversity, Costa Rica enables exchanges with projects and communities in a wide range of settings, including coastal regions, cloud forests, rural areas, and agricultural zones. The country offers a wide variety of projects across different categories, such as environmental and sea turtle conservation, rural tourism, work with children at social risk and in public schools, support for elderly people, people with special needs, and office-based support at the ACI Office.

About the country

Costa Rica is a small Central American country known for its biodiversity, culture of peace (with no army), and long-standing democratic tradition. Beyond these well-known features, daily life unfolds around close community bonds and a deep, lived connection with nature—elements that shape how people relate, work, and welcome others into their communities.

Despite covering only 0.03% of the world’s land area, Costa Rica is home to around 5% of global biodiversity, with over 25% of its territory designated as protected areas. This rich natural diversity enables exchanges with projects and communities in a wide range of settings, including coastal regions, cloud forests, rural areas and agricultural zones.

Costa Rica is a multicultural society, with a predominantly mestizo population, and is also home to indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant communities, regional migrants, and an increasing international population. This cultural diversity is reflected in daily interactions and community life.

“Pura Vida” is more than a slogan—it is a way of living that reflects optimism, simplicity, and human connection. For many foreigners, it often means adapting to a slower pace and placing relationships at the center of everyday experiences, within a society that is strongly family-oriented, polite, and kind.