Learning through Collaboration: Reflections on Cultivating Cross-Institutional Capacity for Place-Based Community Engagement

This article highlights the nascent efforts between College Unbound, Brown University, and Providence College—three very different types of institutions in Providence, Rhode Island—to foster cross-institutional capacity for place-based community engagement. By collectively engaging our institutions, we experimented with what collaboration around community engagement might look like within our local context. In this article, we share our approach and reflections in working to cultivate a place-based collaboration that centers community, along with limitations, lessons learned, and next steps. Through our efforts, we situate cross-institutional collaborations as an opportunity for more sustained, collaborative, and transformative work within higher education community engagement.