CIEE Community Impact Week Highlights: Spring 2026
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Studying abroad becomes more meaningful when you lean into the power of community and engage with the world around you. Across our 45+ CIEE Centers worldwide, CIEE’s Community Impact Week brings students together to recognize and celebrate the ways they’re showing up in their host cities as active participants.
Throughout the spring 2026 semester, more than 350 students took part in service work with local organizations, supporting 53 focused on food security, 55 dedicated to community development and public health, and 55 centered on youth development and education. These service work experiences are rooted in students building relationships with locals, learning new cross-cultural perspectives, and contributing to important work in ways that create real, lasting impact.
CIEE’s Community Impact Week highlights these moments – the work, the connections, and the growth – bringing them together in one global celebration of what it means to study abroad with purpose.
Read More: Community Impact Reflections: Spring 2026
Spring 2026 Community Impact Week Highlights
Discover some of the ways CIEE students spent Community Impact Week learning, serving, and connecting with their host communities!
Highlight #1: Buenos Aires, Argentina
In Buenos Aires, Community Impact Week offered students a deeper look at how social impact takes shape across the city, starting with the people leading that work every day. CIEE hosted a guest talk featuring representatives from Fundación Más Allá, La Margarita recicladores collective, and Scala, who shared how their work supports the community in distinct but connected ways. Fundación Más Allá focuses on social inclusion for people with disabilities through educational and community-based programs; La Margarita advances environmental sustainability through grassroots recycling initiatives that also create dignified work opportunities; and Scala helps youth and adults overcome barriers to employment through job training, mentorship, and pathways into the workforce. Together, their perspectives sparked thoughtful discussion and gave students a more complete picture of how impact happens across sectors, and how these efforts intersect.
Later in the week, that conversation turned into hands-on impact. Students, faculty, and staff partnered with Fundación Sí for a volunteer workday focused on addressing food security. Working side by side, they prepared meals that will be distributed to people experiencing homelessness, contributing to ongoing efforts to reduce inequality while building a stronger sense of connection to the local community.
Highlight #2: Cape Town, South Africa
In Cape Town, Community Impact Week unfolded as a week of connection, reflection, and hands-on service across the city. It began with a Setting the Tone Workshop, where students from CIEE’s Open Campus Block and Arts + Sciences programs explored the role of community engagement in their study abroad experience and signed up for volunteer opportunities aligned with their interests.
Throughout the week, students partnered with local organizations to support communities across Cape Town’s townships. In Khayelitsha, students worked with Ghetto Gardeners at the Sinovuyo Old Age Group Home, contributing to a gardening initiative and donating supplies for senior residents. They also supported Iphupha Lam, an afterschool program for children ages 6–13, where they led games, built connections, and provided snack packs for participants.
Midweek, students continued their impact through meaningful care-focused service. At Christine Revell Children’s Home, they spent time with infants and young children, assisting with playtime and daily routines. In the evening, students gathered with community members at Obs Pasta Kitchen, sharing a meal and conversation in a lively, welcoming environment that emphasized connection and storytelling.
Later in the week, students worked with Sunrise Educare, supporting teachers in an early childhood setting by assisting with recess, snack time, and classroom routines. They also partnered with Meals on Wheels to prepare and package more than 150 meals for local seniors, working collaboratively to support food access in the community.
The week concluded with a Community Impact Celebration, bringing together students and community partners to reflect on their experiences and the relationships built throughout the week. With more than 40 students participating – and some engaging in every volunteer opportunity – the experience sparked a strong sense of purpose and a shared commitment to continue giving back. Through daily reflections, many students expressed a desire to return to these organizations, carrying their impact beyond a single week of service.
Highlight #3: Lisbon, Portugal
In Lisbon, Community Impact Week highlighted how students are turning their experiences into meaningful engagement with the local community. CIEE students took part in a student showcase as part of the Community Impact Global Poster Competition, sharing their work with local partners ReFood and +Skillz. ReFood addresses both food security and sustainability by collecting surplus food from restaurants and supermarkets and redistributing it to those in need, while +Skillz supports underprivileged youth through sports, arts, and citizenship-building programs. Through their presentations, students reflected on their motivations for getting involved, what they’ve learned about the needs of the local community, and how these experiences have helped them feel more connected to life in Lisbon.
“The most impactful takeaway from spending time with ReFood so far has been realizing that it is totally possible to be an active and contributing member of the community you are studying abroad in as a student.” – Tashi L., University of Colorado Boulder
CIEE Lisbon continued the Community Impact Week celebration with a hands-on service effort as students come together to clean one of Costa da Caparica’s beaches following recent storms. This service work helped restore and protect the local environment, while also deepening students’ sense of connection to the community, offering a tangible way to give back while engaging more meaningfully with the place students now call home.
Highlight #4: Mérida, Mexico
In Mérida, Community Impact Week focused on sustainability and community care through hands-on service and local partnerships. The week began with a PET bottle collection drive, where students and staff gathered recyclable materials to support Comedor Zarigüeyas, an organization that recycles and sells bottles to fund meals for children and mothers in need.
Later in the week, students and CIEE staff continued their impact through a service day with Equre, an equine therapy association providing low-cost therapeutic programs for children and young people across Yucatán. Volunteers supported daily operations by assisting with administrative tasks, facility cleaning, and horse care, contributing to a program that creates meaningful connections and promotes well-being through interaction with animals.
Highlight #5: Seoul, South Korea
In Seoul, Community Impact Week brought students and the local community together to celebrate the impact of their semester-long work through the Community Impact Initiative, and the partnerships that made it possible. At the CIEE Seoul center, students shared reflections on their service experiences and honored three key partners with appreciation plaques during a special award ceremony: The Senior Citizens Welfare Center, Seodaemun Family Center, and Seongbuk Braille Library. Each organization represents a different facet of the community, and together, they highlight the breadth of student engagement, from supporting older adults and local families to advancing accessibility and inclusion for individuals who are visually impaired.
The celebration extended beyond reflection into action. After the ceremony, students took part in a sustainability-focused workshop, learning how used KF94 masks can be upcycled into new products like socks and other goods. They then rolled up their sleeves alongside staff and partners to begin the process themselves, carefully disassembling masks by removing ear bands and metal strips so the materials could be repurposed. It was a hands-on reminder that community impact is something to keep building, one small action at a time.
Highlight #6: Seville, Spain
In Seville, students embraced Community Impact Week with two full days dedicated to celebrating the power of community and connection.
Midweek, CIEE students and center staff hosted a community fair featuring Community Impact Initiative partners Madre Coraje and Dársena Deportiva. Madre Coraje supports education and sustainable development projects locally and abroad, while Dársena Deportiva focuses on making river-based sports accessible to people of all backgrounds and abilities. During the two-hour event, representatives connected with dozens of students interested in getting involved, while current volunteers showcased their experiences through poster presentations alongside staff and professors. These presentations also served as an opportunity for students to be selected to present their work at this fall’s CIEE Study Abroad Conference in Cape Town, South Africa.
Later in the week, the focus shifted from connection to action with a clean-up and plogging event along the Guadalquivir River. In partnership with Dársena Deportiva and the Alamillo Nautical Center, students, host families, instructors, and staff took to the water in kayaks to collect litter along the riverbanks. Plogging – combining physical activity with environmental stewardship – brought together 74 participants for a hands-on service experience that directly benefited the local environment. The result? A cleaner, more vibrant riverfront for the community and local marine life, and a shared reminder of the impact that collective action can have.
Highlight #7: Sydney, Australia
In Sydney, Community Impact Week centered on connection, compassion, and tackling food security at the local level. CIEE students partnered with Will2Live, a nonprofit supporting individuals and families experiencing homelessness, to host a “Sausage Sizzle” breakfast for the community. As they cooked and served meals, students connected with locals and commuters, sharing more about Will2Live’s mission while creating a welcoming space where people could start their day with a warm meal and a sense of community.
This effort builds on a semester-long commitment to addressing food security across the city. Since January, students have also worked alongside Our Big Kitchen in Bondi, preparing 100 nutritious meals using rescued and donated ingredients. Through these experiences, students are not only helping meet immediate needs but also gaining a deeper understanding of the challenges facing their host community: Strengthening cross-cultural connections and contributing to solutions that make a lasting impact.
“I truly enjoyed the experience so much. I think it's important for us to leave Australia better than we found it, especially as tourists, so it was a really great experience and a way to give back!” – Hallie T., Arizona State University
More Than a Moment
CIEE’s Community Impact Week demonstrates how students show up in their host communities with curiosity, humility, and intention. Whether working alongside local nonprofits, supporting public health initiatives, or connecting through education and youth programs, CIEE students engage in ways that go beyond service and focus on real connection and learning.
Through CIEE’s Community Impact Initiative, service is an integral part of the study abroad experience. The Community Impact Week celebration may last only a few days, but the impact continues well beyond that. The relationships built, perspectives gained, and stories shared stay with students long after the semester ends and shape how they engage with the world moving forward.
Are you ready to make your own impact abroad?