IS WHAT IS ESSENTIAL INVISIBLE TO THE EYE?

Abstract

This issue of Universitas Forum addresses two issues: participation and local development. As several authors published here have underlined, local development is increasingly seen as a means to address many of the negative aspects of a centralized and top-down approach to development and, particularly, to facilitate the active role of citizens and local communities in the development processes that affect their lives. Thus, a critical examination of the relationship between participation and local development is called for. What is meant by participation? What is meant by local development? What can be learned from successful and also, less successful experiences from many different contexts? How can these contribute conceptually and practically to building an alternative paradigm of development and to deepening democratic practice?