A Community Inquiry Laboratory (CIL) as a place where members of a community come together to develop shared capacity and work on common problems. "Community" emphasizes support for collaborative activity and for creating knowledge that is connected to people's values, history, and lived experiences. "Inquiry" points to support for open-ended, democratic, participatory engagement. "Laboratory" indicates a space and resources to bring theory and action together in an experimental and critical manner. A CIL is most importantly a concept, not a technology in the narrow sense.
CIL's are used in formal learning contexts, but also with a variety of community groups. An example is a course on Inquiry-Based Learning which is itself linked to one on the Marshall Islands.