This paper intends to analyse opportunities for local stakeholders to address the problems related to decentralisation and local empowerment in a global environment. Local development initiatives derive from co-ordination mechanisms that are actively designed by stakeholders to innovate. These mechanisms rely on hierarchical organisational levels, which are set one into the other. Local governments play a fundamental role in this dialectic relationship between local and global dynamics. At this level, public institutions, the private sector and civil society can articulate and develop agreements between themselves. The possible and necessary-contribution of development oriented research is discussed on the basis of examples. The paper relates the production of methodologies and information to support co-ordination between stakeholders and public decision-makers. Questions pertaining to the involvement of resource poor stakeholders are also examined within the perspective of public research contribution to sustainable development.