The central issue of this document is the question of how the nation's human resources can be helped to play their most effective role in development and of the extent to which this role includes some share in decision making, both in the preparation of plans and in their implementation. Emphasis is placed on the use of national planning techniques for social and economic advancement of the nation, and certain details of work done in Yugoslavia, Colombia, Venezuela, India, Nigeria, Ceylon, and other countries are examined. Other discussions center around the goals and strategy of national plans; time requirements foreseen in the national plan; administrative and organizational arrangements for relating community development to national development; people's contribution in the planning process; formal mechanisms whereby members of local communities can be drawn into the planning process; current efforts at integrating concepts of community development and national planning; and research findings in relation to community development planning. Three annexes examine the planning machinery and its operation in Nigeria, Tanzania, and Yugoslavia. (nl)