Identifying Strategic Priorities for the Sustainable Development of Rural Areas Based on Local Community Planning

Iran has about 60000 villages with a wide variety of issues and problems. The aim of this study was to understand the real situation, development needs, and priorities of rural communities through local community participation in the planning process. The main questions of this research are: What are the most important issues of the rural communities and the main priorities for their rural development of the local community?; What are the strategies for the development of rural communities and resolving their problems? The statistical population comprised all rural areas of Iran. The research method was Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) meetings conducted in 120 villages in different provinces of Iran, representing random distribution of the rural communities. In addition to group meetings, field observation, completing questionnaires, and holding interviews with representatives of local community groups have been conducted. Eventually, the obtained data have been prioritized through a questionnaire with 20 experts in this field. The results show that all rural community issues can be grouped into 5 and the most important issues are related to the management problems of the local community, in other words, the role of government institutions as the main authority, engaging in a centralized and top-down development programs. Achieving sustainable development of rural areas and local communities, is only possible through the establishment of a system of governance based on local community planning as they are the main beneficiaries of development programs.