Although SDGs do not specifically focus on Higher education (HE), HE institutions play an important role in promoting the development of values, competencies, skills, and knowledge necessary to contribute to building a more sustainable society. Virtual exchanges (VE), or Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL can contribute to creating a "third space" that provides an environment for HE EFL learners to express themselves as individuals by fostering diversity and inclusive participation, promoting openness to knowledge pluralization through meaningful intercultural interaction among diverse students (Wimpenny et al., 2022; Wimpenny & Orsini-Jones, 2020). On the other hand, the development of competences for democratic culture in EFL learners contribute to promoting global citizenship through language education and intercultural dialogue, as well as the appreciation of cultural diversity and culture's contribution to sustainability. This paper aims to show how a VE involving EFL students from Costa Rica and Japan can effectively become an innovative inclusive Third Space for the promotion of global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and culture's contribution to sustainable development through intercultural dialogue. By examining how the participants mobilize a number of competences for democratic culture, it would be possible to understand the potential of VE in achieving the goal of EFL learners acquiring the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development through intercultural dialogue in a dialogic, reflective, diverse and inclusive Third Space.
