درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Purpose - The present study aims to examine the challenges and opportunities for local stakeholders' empowerment related to rural planning in Iran. In general, the current approach of planning process from making decision to implementation and monitoring is based on instrumental rationalism approach, irrespective of the villagers’ viewpoints. Urban – Rural divided planning has created some challenges for sustainable rural development and opportunities for improving environmental-ecological and socio-economic indicators, which have been ignored . Design/Methodology/Approach- Less attention has been paid to local stakeholders' empowerment in planning methods and procedures, which is regarded as an obstacle for the promotion of the indicators related to sustainable rural development. The present study was based on a descriptive – analytical method. Correlation test and multivariate regression were used to provide a meaningful framework. Library and field studies were used for data collection. Library method was used to understand the impact of policy implementation and planning approach on the socio-economic empowerment of local stakeholders for their socio-economic participation in sustainable rural development and the study of previous research experiences and other countries on appropriate planning. The statistical population of the study is 124 villages in south and southeast of Tehran. Random sample size for completing the questionnaire of local authorities at village level, using Cochran formula and its adjustment formula for small statistical population, with 95% confidence level and probability of 0.05 and prediction of variance S2 0.25 = sample size of 54 villages was achieved. In these 54 villages, 450 questionnaires were completed according to size by specifying sample size in each village .The validity of the research questionnaire was conducted by experts in organizations. The reliability of the questionnaire through Cronbach's alpha was 0.801. Findings- The results indicated that local stakeholder's generative empowerment is important although unproductive empowerment is increasingly overcoming. In addition, the possible effects of this process have been identified. Thus, problem-oriented planning is necessary for formulating a community-based approach optimally and strengthening social capital, which is not based on current instrumental rationalism approach. Thus, for the best planning with a community-based approach and the reinforcement of social capital, the group to convene is needed in the process and problem-oriented planning is important. This is inconsistent with the techno centrism rationalism approach.

Purpose- In the present study, the impact of the household head's features on poverty and its intensity in rural households was investigated using the data related to income cost of rural households of West Azerbaijan during 2014. Design/methodology/approach- To this end, the relative poverty line of the rural households was first estimated in this study. Then, the effect of household characteristics on the intensity of poverty and its incidence was examined as well. The two-step Heckman model was used in this regard through which the impact of variables on household poverty was explored and the likelihood of household poverty was calculated. Afterward, assessing the poverty intensity of poor households, the effect of the study variables on the intensity of poverty of these households was investigated. Findings- The results of the study showed that the age, marital status, employment, and literacy level of the household head had a significantly positive effect on decreasing the incidence of poverty of the households. In addition, being married, the higher level of education, and employment of the household head, and also increasing the number of employed members in the household alleviated the severity of poverty among rural households. Research limitations/implications- The main limitation of this study was the lack of direct access to statistics and that extraction of data from micro- households was time-consuming. Practical implications- Considering the high probability of poverty at the beginning of the young age and retirement, actions must be taken to minimize the negative consequences of poverty in these ages through appropriate social security systems. Furthermore, given that being married reduces the incidence of poverty, careful planning is required to increase employment opportunities, to develop the culture of marriage, and therefore, to reduce the level of divorce in the society. Originality/value- In this article, an attempt has been made to study the influence of individual characteristics of the household head on poverty incidence and its severity in rural households of West Azerbaijan Province using the relative poverty line system. Moreover, based on the aim of the study, the severity of poverty and its incidence are to be separately investigated.