The Power of Local Action: Learning from Communities on the Frontline of Sustainable Development

This booklet looks broadly across this 20-year history of experience with local ecosystem-based initiatives to present key lessons and insights on how rural communities have successfully met the challenge of sustainable local development. What are the key elements of their success? How can we continue to encourage and scale up successful local action in the future? And can this local-level experience help us address the global development challenges of the next 20 years?

The findings and lessons put forward in this booklet are presented in summary form as an input to a broader discussion on current development practice. The booklet is not intended as an exhaustive treatment of community-based development.