I.R.F.E.D.—Institut international de recherche et de formation en vue du diveloppement harmonist, the International Institute for Research and Training towards Integrating Development—was founded in 1958 by Fr L. J. Lebret; in spite of the originality of its research and activities, the Institute is still virtually unknown to the British public.

I.R.F.E.D. defines development as the constructive use of all natural and human resources in order to promote the collective and interdependent progress of mankind. This means that I.R.F.E.D. seeks to tackle development in every sphere and at every level; it is concerned as much with making peoples aware of their situation as with the structural reorganization of international trade and finance; with socio-cultural change and strategies for industrialization; with the appropriate spiritual, moral or political conditions for participation as well as with the rational, economic or technical constraints on planning. This global approach demands a simultaneous and concentrated emphasis on a series of different activities —fundamental and applied research, analysis in depth, programming, training, publication, the stimulation of public opinion, etc....

Development is the key word in the work of the Institute; but how is it visualized ? Since the discovery of underdevelopment has made people aware of the word, the concept, the myth of development, its significance has evolved concurrently with the different stages in the analysis of underdevelopment and the elaboration of strategies or policies to combat this. I.R.F.E.D. has followed this evolution, taking part in its different stages, and progressively acquiring a deeper understanding and a clearer insight into a pattern of development which is dependent on man’s gradual assumption of control over his world-wide destiny.