The Global local Community Sustainability Research project is undertaking research on the island of Rhodes in collaboration with Vasilia Kazoullis of the University of the Aegean. The project engages with local practices in a village and an urban setting through the life world themes of arts and culture, celebration and ritual. The communities of Rhodes City and the village of Asklipios are involved in this study to determine how community members sense of their individual and collective identities, their sense of a shared past and their sense of place within a changing social context. The inclusion of a village and an urban site in this study provides a firm basis for comparative analysis of the strategies that communities are taking to address the challenges facing cultural continuity and development.