Alison Gilchrist is an independent consultant and research fellow at the University of Birmingham. She has worked for almost four decades in community development as an activist, practitioner, trainer, researcher, policy advisor and manager.

• Preface to the third edition;Community connections: value and meaning;Community networks and policy dimensions;Community development: principles and practice;Working with communities: different approaches;Networks: form and features;Network functions;Networking principles and practices;Networking for community development;Complexity and the well-connected community;Developing the well-connected community;Issues and implications;Suggested further reading.

"This is a book that gives more and more with each edition. Drawing on a wide range of experience and literature, it has now been substantially revised and its insights will be valued by many in the community development field." Marilyn Taylor, Institute for Voluntary Action Research