Book excerpt: Training for Transformation Book 4 is a practical and accessible workbook for community development workers. It recognises that the only changes which effectively transform the lives of poor people are those in which they have been active participants and focuses on five issues which have become more and more prominent in the concerns of communities throughout the world: the environment; gender and development; ethnic and racial conflict; intercultural understanding; building participatory governance. Each section contains a rich selection of relevant material designed to stimulate interest and debate, including simulations, real life stories, telling statistics, news articles and poetry and drama from local communities. The authors have drawn on their direct experience of working on community development programmes in South Africa and the USA, as well as feedback from many other countries where the Training for Transformation approach has been adopted. Training for Transformation Book 4 will be ideal for adult education workers, social workers, community development workers, church workers and trade union educators, and all organizations and individuals concerned with the process of transforming society.