The Education and Local Development (ELD) Project was designed to conduct research and facilitate cooperation among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries that would result in better understanding of existing relationships between education and local development, identification of the potential effects of alternative methods of linking education and local development, documentation of the experiences of member countries in this area, and a set of policy-relevant conclusions for use by policymakers in both the education and development sectors. Analysis of the major issues affecting the linking of education and rural development and examination of a number of case studies of projects designed to link educational and rural development programs resulted in a group of conclusions. Included among these are (1) general conclusions applicable to all elements of ELD work; (2) specific conclusions about the role of formal education in rural development; and (3) specific conclusions about the role of non-formal and adult education in rural development. (Related reports on rural development in America are available through ERIC--see note.) (MN)