Analysis of Factors Affecting the Sustainability of Rural Development Management with Emphasis on the operation of Ruran Councils (Case Study: Ruran Councils of Shanderman District)

The rural management system in Iran faces problems such as attitudes in planning and resource distribution, technocratic and government-oriented governance, low agricultural productivity ratio, unfavorable situation of rural education and low participation in rural development planning. On the other hand, rural councils are considered as a fledgling institution and as a new rural management and executive managers at the village level. The aim of this study is to identify the factors affecting the sustainability of rural development management according to the performance of rural councils in Shanderman district. The research seeks to answer the question: According to which factors, the operation of rural councils affects the sustainability? Research is in nature, applied and developmental and is considered as qualitative research. The statistical population in the qualitative stage includes a group of experts and university professors who are first selected in a purposeful manner and in the form of snowballs. Data were then collected by Delphi method in two stages with semi-structured interview. Interview data were analyzed in three stages of open, axial and selective coding to classify concepts and categories. Findings show that the operation of rural councils in the form of 7 general indicators is effective in sustainable management of rural development. Environmental index, socio-cultural index, economic index, planning index, institutional-organizational index, administrative index and physical index that are extracted and their relations are evaluated with, through axial coding process by selective coding of sustainable development management.