Journal of Research and Rural Planning -پژوهش و برنامه ریزی روستایی

Purpose- The main purpose of this study was to identify the drivers responsible for instability of livelihood and to investigate the extent and manner of their influences on each other and on the future livelihood status of villagers in Marivan County. Design/methodology/approach - Applying a descriptive-analytical method and Delphi Technique, the present applied research identifies first, the most important drivers of the current situation of livelihood instability and their eliminating impact on the future livelihood of the deprived villagers in Marivan County. Moreover, applying cross-impact method in Mick Mac software, it analyzes the effect and direct influence of these drivers on each other. Findings- The most important drivers of livelihood instability of rural people in the county are a total of 36 drivers in five categories as follows: Economic failures with the influence (346) and dependence (371), social failures with the influence (290) and dependence (315), environmental-physical failures with the influence (172) and dependence (176), institutional-managerial failures with the influence (351) and dependence (287) and trans-regional failures with the influence (23) and dependence (12). Among them the institutional-managerial failures have the most direct influence (315) and the economic failures have the most direct dependence (371) on the other drivers. The regulatory and two-dimensional drivers and their situation on the graph shows the continuing instability of the villagers’ livelihood in future, thus, this will increase deserted villages and wasted water and soil resources in the region. Research Limitations/Implications- The dispersion of a large number of villages, their small sizes in addition to their lack of accessibility, and the lack of cooperation of some experts to conduct interviews were among the main limitations of the present study. Practical implications - It is suggested to teach villagers about the basic principles of entrepreneurship and taking risks and identifying opportunities. In this regard, making use of entrepreneurial villagers with successful experiences and non-governmental organizations in the region can be effective. Ultimately, plans and programs should be designed and implemented for the regulatory drivers such as fatalism, lack of crisis management policies, recognizing rural development as equal to the traditional agriculture development. Originality/Value- The outcome of this study can be an introduction for subsequent studies for formulating scenarios, executive strategies, policies and planning in order to move towards sustainable livelihoods and the realization of a favorable livelihood for the villagers.

Purpose- The main objective of present study is analysis of viewpoints of Boyer-Ahmad local communities about rural development. The criteria of rural development are identified by a systematic approach from the standpoints of people who are aware of current rural issues in the investigated villages. In the next stage, the level of development of settlements was determined according to the identified criteria. Design/methodology/approach- The current study is based on qualitative methods (grounded theory) and quantitative (descriptive-analytical and survey). The required data was collected through the field methods (questionnaire and interview). The sample population of the study was determined to extract the indicators purposefully and based on the snowball method until the theoretical saturation of the interview with 18 people was reached. The statistical population of the study is the people living in the villages of Boyer-Ahmad County. 380 people in 10 rural settlements are assessed by employing Cochran's formula. The validity of the research questionnaire was confirmed by content validity and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha. SPSS22 and ArcGis software were used for analyzing the data. Finding- In the index extraction stage, 51 concepts were identified in the form of 6 major categories. In the second stage, the results of one-sample t-test showed that rural settlements have a development coefficient of 0.35 in terms of the studied categories with an average of 2.46, which are at an undeveloped level. The status of development categories also shows that the category of environmental resources with an average of 3.31 has the best level and the category of quality of life with an average of 1.96 have the worst situation in the studied villages. The results also show that the Ganjeh Kohneh village with a coefficient of 0.43 and Mazdak village with a coefficient of 0.40 are in the middle development level and other settlements are in the undeveloped level. Practical implications- According to the results, solutions such as equitable distribution of services, development of a vision document for integrated development, diversification of economic activities and the use of social capital of villagers in the planning process have been proposed. Originality/value- Before planning at the local level, it is necessary to examine the views of the local community regarding rural development. There are differences between rural areas in terms of capabilities, talents, facilities and priorities, and local planning can take these differences into account.

Purpose- Employment and unemployment, which are very important issues in rural areas, can be solved in general through home-based businesses and their development. The issue of home-based businesses can be very influential in creating employment in rural areas The main purpose of this study is to provide a paradigmatic model of home business development in rural areas of Isfahan province based on basic theory. Design/Methodology/Approach- This study was conducted in 2020. The present research is among the basic and qualitative researches that have been done with the approach of the foundation data theory approach. The interview collection tool was structured. The interviews were conducted among experts and experts in the field of home-based jobs, and the opinions of the interviewees were theoretically saturated from the 29th interview. Findings - After the emergence of concepts (139 references) and open, central, and selective coding, led to the design of the conceptual framework of the research model and the presentation of the paradigm model. Based on the results of the Grounded Theory, the pattern of home-based businesses to achieve development in rural areas of Isfahan province has been drawn. This model includes causal conditions (including managerial factors and comprehensive policy system), intervening conditions (educational-promotional factors, motivational factors, and attitudinal factors), contextual conditions (infrastructure factors, marketing, skill factors, and promotion of financial and credit resources). This includes strategies (stakeholder participation, information system, and support factors) and social consequences (increasing the level of participation and sense of responsibility and cooperation among residents, reducing social harms, empowering local people, Reduce the migration of local people to the city, move towards sustainable development) and economic consequences (rural growth and development, reducing the dependence of local people on government credits and facilities and assistance such as subsidies, promoting economic welfare, improving local livelihoods) has it. Research limitations/implications- The limitations of the present study include the following: Research is time-consuming; some people are not cooperating to collect data, it is difficult to assess the relative importance of the components and factors of the proposed theory.

Purpose - The rural-urban integration refers to an optimal combination of natural, economic, social, and spatial factors. The scale of this integration depends on the extent to which urban and rural systems (economic, social, and environmental) influence, interconnect, complement, and share benefits. The main goal of this study is the environmental analysis of villages in the periphery of Farsan city based on the rural-urban relationship. Design/methodology/approach- This is an applied study that uses a descriptive-analytical method. Data were collected using a questionnaire. The statistical population of the study consists of the four villages in Farsan county with a population of over one thousand people. Together, these four villages are home to about 4285 households (14972 people) from which a sample of n=375 was selected using Cochran's formula. Finding - The results of the research based on the one-sample t-test indicate an environmental relationship between Farsan county and its nearby villages. The environmental indicators such as noise pollution and non-expansion of green space, the change of cultivation pattern, the intensified land abuse and brokerage, the reduced share of water in agriculture, and the limited environmental knowledge of villagers suggested adverse effects whereas other variables manifested the positive effects of the connection with Farsan on improving the environment of the nearby villages. The results of regression analysis showed that the environmental relationship of Farsan with its surrounding villages explained 17% of study indices (environmental health, land-use change, water and soil resources, knowledge and importance of environmental issues) and the remaining 83% was explained by other factors not addressed in this study. Research limitations/implications - The main limitation of the study was the scant literature on the environmental effects of the urban-rural relationship. Practical implications - Implementing a suitable cultivation model for agricultural products, expanding new irrigation systems, maintaining and reviving orchards, and raising awareness of environmental issues among villagers should be put on the agenda. Originality/value - Investigating environmental effects of the urban-rural relationship as a way of ensuring sustainable rural settlement and environmental protection in the study area.

Purpose - Women as half of the human resources in rural areas play an important role in entrepreneurship development in rural communities. The reinforcement of rural women entrepreneurship is an effective approach for two development indices, that is., increasing employment and reducing unemployment. So, given the significance of the sustainability of small and medium-sized businesses of women in the rural economy and rural development, it is important to identify the factors influencing the sustainability of the entrepreneurship process among them. In this respect, this study aimed to explore the factors affecting the sustainability of the business of the entrepreneur women who were members of rural microcredit funds in Mazandaran province. Design/Methodology/Approach- The research was a descriptive one. The statistical population was composed of 776 entrepreneur women who were members of 26 rural microcredit funds in Mazandaran province, out of whom 260 women were sampled based on Krejcie and Morgan’s table. The main research instrument was a self-constructed questionnaire whose face and content validity were confirmed by a panel of experts. Also, average variance extracted (AVE) and composite reliability (CR) supported the convergent validity and the reliability of the instrument, respectively. Data were analyzed by structural equation modeling using the partial least squares technique in the Smart PLS3 software package. Finding- Based on the results, the sustainable businesses of rural women who are members of rural microcredit funds were positively and significantly affected by the infrastructure, educational-skill, policymaking, economic, and environmental-geographical factors (with coefficients of 0.412, 0.219, 0.175, 0.165, and 0.137, respectively) at the 99% confidence level and by personality and attitude (0.183 and 0.162, respectively) at the 95% confidence level. These factors captured 92.3 percent of the variance in sustainable businesses. Research Limitations- The dispersion of microcredit funds across the counties and the difficulty of identifying entrepreneurs in them, which would constitute the statistical population, were the main limitations and challenges of the research. Practical Implication: The most important approaches to developing sustainable businesses among rural women include identifying motivated entrepreneur women, providing adequate facilities, raw materials, and inputs, creating job opportunities for small home jobs in villages to motivate women businesses, promoting communication between rural women and successful entrepreneurs, arranging visits of successful businesses, holding short-term applied skill development courses, and creating proper conditions for the use of the Internet and cyberspace for marketing their products. Originality/Value- Based on the results, various factors significantly influence sustainable businesses of women who are members of rural microcredit funds. Therefore, organizations and officials can contribute to the development of women’s businesses in rural areas through supporting the women by material and spiritual motivations, encouraging them, and reinforcing their commitment and responsibility.

Purpose - Rural municipality, as an organization for sustainable rural development, is supposed to be a public entity for rural administration supervised by villagers through the Islamic Council. Capital inputs are vital for achieving the best performance of rural municipalities in order to realize the development in rural areas. The main purpose of this article was to investigate the effect of social capital on the performance of rural people. Design/methodology/approach - The study area of this research is located in the villages of Sonqor and Kolyai Counties in Kermanshah Province. The statistical population of this study is 180 villages with rural municipalities, and 123 samples were determined by Cochran's formula. 28 items for rural performance of rural municipalities and 30 items for social capital were utilized to design the questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha method was used for the reliability, and experts’ opinions were used for to determine the validity. The correlation for the collected data was analyzed by Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Finding - The findings confirm that there is a significant relationship between the level of social capital and the performance of the rural municipalities. Among the indicator of social capital, social participation has the highest correlation and social trust has the lowest correlation with the performance of rural municipalities. The variables entered in the regression equation were able to explain 32% of the variance of the dependent variable. In addition, among them, the dependent variable is affected by the social participation at the highest and the social trust at the lowest.