"[...] communication is rarely integrated in development cooperation programs as a strategic tool. For this reason an Interest Group on Strategic Communication for Sustainable Development was established. The group, with GTZ Rioplus in the lead, comprises members of GTZ, other German development cooperation agencies, and IUCN-CEC. This paper presents the final results of the Interest Group’s work and will be presented at the World Congress on Communication for Sustainable Development (WCCD), organized by the World Bank and FAO in 2006. [...] The manual is envisioned as a tool for policymakers and planners to obtain an overview of the issues involved. GTZ Rioplus and the Interest Group hope that this tool will quickly and convincingly show how strategic communication can become an integrated component of policies, strategies and projects, and thereby help ensure that adequate human and fi nancial resources are allocated to this end. Strategic communication, in the context of this paper, is understood as a dynamic process, integrated in a large-scale initiative that comprises multi-disciplinary and social marketing, non-formal education and public participation, thrives on acting people, aims at the innovative and sustainable change of practices, behaviors and lifestyles, guides communication processes and media interventions within and among social groups, and is a pre-requisite and a tool for change at the same time." (Foreword)