This book contains 10 case studies of rural community development in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Catalonia, as seen from the perspective of community-work practitioners. Development projects encompassed such activities as promotion of tourism, establishment of community centers, vocational training for school dropouts, adult community education, community action on housing and environmental issues, job development, rural networking, programs for children and youth, skills training for workers, and development of community social services. The book is organized into three parts--remote rural areas, areas of industrial change, and issue-based work. It contains the following chapters: (1) "Connemara West: A Rural Community Development Project" (Kieran O'Donohue); (2)"'Almost an Island': A Tenants' Association in Highland Region" (John Ferguson and Bill Anderson); (3) "Protest, Affirmation and Adult Education on the Loughshore" (Niall Fitzduff); (4) "Tackling the Effects of Rural Unemployment in East Cleveland" (Allan Cassidy); (5) "The People Who Came Back: Community Work in a Welsh Ex-Mining Valley" (Alice Greenlees); (6) "Organisation and Adult Education in the North Derbyshire Coalfield" (Chris Eames); (7) "Community Regeneration in a Pennine Valley--and Daffodils" (Marion Horton); (8) "Community Work Principles and Rural Housing in Wiltshire" (Diana Farrow); (9) "A Social Services-Based Project in Catalonia" (Carme Colilles and Lurdes Ribera); and (10) "Village Halls and Community Development" (Louise Beaton). A conclusion, by Paul Henderson and David Francis, summarizes key themes and implications for rural community-work practice. Contains an index and contributor profiles. (SV)