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- The aim of this study was to investigate the mental image of local residents of tourism destination villages in Karaj city regarding the economic and social effects of tourism and its effect on tourism development tendency. Design/methodology/approach- This research is based on an applied and descriptive-analytical method. Data related to any of the variables have been collected through questionnaires and interviews. The statistical population of the study is the residents of the villages of tourism destination in Karaj city. Out of this, 365 local residents of the villages were selected according to Cochran formula as the sample population. To analyze the research findings, AMOS and SPSS software were used. Findings- The results of this study showed that the mental image of the local residents of the tourism destination villages in Karaj is positive about the economic and social effects of tourism development. Also, the satisfaction of local residents from economic dimensions of tourism with a factor of 0.77 compared to their social mental image with a factor of 0.70 has a greater impact on the local community's desire for tourism development. Research limitations/implications- The difficulty of crossing the mountainous slopes of Chalous Road, the unwillingness of some respondents in the studied villages for individual and social reasons, the lack of sufficient statistics and information about the province of Alborz due to the newly established and non-differentiated statistics from the Tehran province are among the limitations of the research. Practical implications- Neglecting local communities in tourism industry activities is a major bottleneck in participatory planning in order to achieve sustainable development of tourism. In this regard, planners and custodians of tourism in the studied villages should develop sustainable tourism to meet the needs and desires of local residents, while the development of sustainable tourism will be impossible without the participation of local residents and their loyalty toward tourists. In this way, the maximum satisfaction of the local community is realized as an indispensable necessity for the successful development of tourism. Originality/value- In this research, we tried to provide a comprehensive and systemic approach which is a geographical attitude to evaluate the tendency of local residents of target tourism villages of Karaj County about tourism effects. In addition, the effect of this attitude was examined on local community satisfaction using structural equation modeling.

Purpose: The use of solar energy has long been human interest. Some countries are trying to gradually replace fossil energy with solar energy because of special benefits such as lack of environmental pollution, frequency, immortality, and sustainable access. The potential of solar energy provides a good platform for the development of marginal villages and regions that are deployed away from urban centers or rural population centers. However, in some countries, despite the favorable weather conditions, for various reasons, the use of solar energy technology is still not commensurate with the potentials. Design/Methodology/Approach: This research adopted a descriptive-analytical method to explain the potentials of solar energy technology for sustainable rural development in the study area on 400 randomized samples. The potential and process of developing and expanding solar energy technology, as an effective factor, was determined by 34 items under indicators such as education and awareness-raising, knowledge and skills, trust-building, capacity building, participation, and partnership in investment. The dependent research variable was also measured through 106 items in ecological, socioeconomic, and physical dimensions of settlement development. Findings: The results suggested that the utilization of solar energy technology was effective in promoting sustainable development indicators of rural settlements in the study area. Hence, it is suggested to pay further attention to improving training and raising awareness as well as building support for villagers to increase the level of employment, participation, and investment in the utilization of solar energy technology.

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.