The Community Factor of the Rural Development

In the study local society and the development possibility of Tomești (Csíkszenttamás) were analysed. The village has been studied primarily in terms of development. One of the most important research questions was (and remains) how local society is fit to engage in rural or local development and what social problems hinder the development. The village camp research included questionnaire surveys, interviews and analysis of photographs, local and official statistical data. With help of the development stories, we try to draw general conclusions about the functioning of endogenous resources and social capital, too. It was demonstrated, that the strong community participation and social capital could compensate the inherited disadvantage and contribute to development. The local conflicts, tensions, party interests could undermine the best development possibilities. We concluded that without a strong local society, the local development initiatives could fail.