community forestry by bringing together diverse talents and experience from each sector of society. Collaborations also help orient organizations toward community forestry by exposing each sector to the perspectives of the other sectors and by providing coalitions for change. Working together, often on the same projects at the same sites, has helped members of different institutions develop mutual respect and understanding. Cooperation also facilitates practical coordination of forestry programs; integrates the efforts of researchers, practitioners, and educators; and enables organizations to link field experiences with reforms at the policy level.

Collaboration among organizations pursuing different lines of work has sometimes been compared to constructing a "three-legged stool." All three legs of the stool—policy formulation and agency reorientation, research and training, and community action—are necessary to achieve meaningful social change. Building relations among government agencies, research institutions, NGOs, and communities helps this integration occur.

Any one agency or organization may assume multiple roles in contributing to the three lines of work. For example, forestry departments and NGOs, in addition to providing resources and technical assistance, have commonly played essential roles in organizing communities and in conducting research; and universities, in addition to conducting research, have assisted in implementing programs and in contributing to policy recommendations.

The following sections examine some of the activities undertaken to support the transformation of government agencies, NGOs, and academic institutions. The work of universities and NGOs in developing and implementing participatory methods is discussed in the last section of Part II.