Rural communities, as well as the entire society in Croatia, are accompanied by a deteriorating demographic picture and slow economic development. The focus of this paper is on local self -government units from the area of Karlovac County, which differ according to the level of development. Selected communities have characteristics of rural communities and this paper seeks to gain insight into the characteristics and perspectives of development. In order to gain insight into their characteristics, qualitative research was conducted with key informants in three selected local communities (Krnjak, Barilović and Rakovica). The results indicate that these communities have certain similar characteristics: material deprivation of inhabitants and their lethargy towards coexistence in the community, partly because of the minimisation of the needs of vulnerable groups and the underdeveloped infrastructure basis which leads to a disturbed demographic image of the community and ultimately to the dependence of rural areas on external actors. Encouraging their development should be based on internal and external actions that imply: advocating and strengthening human capacities in the community through their organisation and strengthening of the role of local stakeholders. The paper also highlighted the role of social work as a profession in community development. The problems of centralization of institutions, insufficient institutional support for the inhabitants of rural communities and the need for experts were noted. This paper aims to highlight the problem of rural communities and their need for further sustainable development.