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[Extract] It is rare for geographers to be seen as critical thinkers on development issues. Indeed, even this collection, edited by a geographer, includes just three. Of these Harold Brookfield is assuredly the doyen. Indeed, one of the others, Terry McGee, described Brookfield as ‘the acknowledged “guru” of development geography’ (1978: 71). His contributions to development studies range from a much lauded book on interdependent development, which emphasised the necessity for development to be seen in a diversity of interlocking ways, a longstanding focus on local studies (tied to the belief that indigenous knowledge is a key to development) and the environment and sustainability. Such diverse interests were shaped around a search for pragmatic solutions and the eschewing of arid theorising, dogma, ever-changing semantics and political correctness. While some contemplate the lives and livelihoods of those they refer to as ‘others’, Brookfield preferred the language of everyday life, of ordinary people and their problems, and was unafraid to use words such as poverty.

The enormous growth in numbers of non-government organizations (NGOs) throughout the world constituted a significant global social change of the last few decades of the twentieth century. NGOs can represent local, regional, national, or global constituencies and interests, and may be actors at one or all of these levels. Their increased importance, in terms of numbers, diversity of organizations, and influence is frequently regarded as an expression of the strengthening of civil society. Civil society can be defined as the working together of people individually or collectively for the common good. This is generally independent of government or political affiliations, or state agencies. Civil society functions largely through the growing network of non-state, non-profit-making organizations that mediate between the individual and the state.

[Extract] Established in 1948 and based in Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It plays a major role in directing and co-ordinating international health. WHO co-ordinates the surveillance of trends in infectious diseases, such as malaria, hiv/aids, and tuberculosis, and in food and water-borne diseases, including cholera, other diarrhoeal diseases, and hepatitis A. It reports on the occurrence and means of transfer of diseases, associated death rates, effectiveness of disease prevention and treatments, and extent of compliance among travellers with recommended precautions.

[Extract] The notion of community impinges on leisure, recreation, and tourism in a variety of ways. For example, the term is used to denote local groups of people who are hosts to visitors and upon whom the social, economic, and environmental impacts of visitors, both positive and negative, are acute. Community can also be used as a term to describe groups that are bound together by common interests. Sporting clubs and other recreational groups are examples of this. Many writers have remarked that the term ‘community’ has a high level of use and a low level of meaning, with some authorities citing over ninety different definitions for the term (see Walmsley and Lewis 1994). Despite this variability, there are features that are common to most definitions. Generally speaking, interpretations of the term can be thought of as falling into one of four types.