As the world moves towards the twenty-first century, it enters a period of unprecedented crisis: the human race can no longer take the future for granted. Yet over the last decade, millions of people worldwide have turned to local action to tackle some of the planet's seemingly intractable problems.

In thousands of towns, cities and villages, community groups and non-governmental organisations are teaming up with local authorities to form links with their counterparts in the developing world - but until now, these initiatives have been virtually ignored by the mainstream media. Even participating communities are sometimes barely aware of the movement's existence.

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Towards a Global Village aims to lift these local initiatives from obscurity into the mainstream by offering the first comprehensive account of the emergence of community development projects on a global scale. Basing his account on data from programmes in twenty-one countries around the world, Shuman evaluates their influence and offers sound, practical recommendations for increasing their impact and effectiveness.

Towards a Global Village offers hope, ideas and inspiration to all those who continue to believe that there is some point in working for real change at a local level.