This book deals with the challenges posed by the transformation of society towards much-needed sustainability. Especially, it deals with the local features of this change, but seen in a global context. The two cases examined - the municipalities of Linköping and Åtvidaberg - are Swedish, but the problems of how to relate locally to a globalized world are common today. The cases have been deliberately chosen to expose alternative types of choices for the local communities involved. Large Linköping is, historically, a nodal city of importance in the national grid of regional centres, one that relates to the nation state and represents officialdom. Small Åtvidaberg developed in the context of its forest region setting and metallurgy, and today operates directly to wider markets, while still emphasising its very local identity. The fact that these municipalities border each other provides a similar regional context, and differences between them may then not be entirely confused by a debate on drastically different geographical settings.
