Journal of Sustainable Rural Development
Volume:7 Issue: 2, Autumn and Winter 2023

The health issue has become prominent due to population growth in the 20th century. Good health necessitates a healthy environment and appropriate social, economic, cultural, and environmental foundations. On one hand, understanding the nature and dimensions of health, as well as its influencing factors, and on the other hand, fostering its development within rural regions is crucial in promoting health in rural areas and fostering stability within these regions.

Therefore, this study was conducted as an applied research approach with a descriptive-analytical type. It investigates the indicators of a healthy village across various dimensions (medical-health, social, economic, environmental, etc.) and explores their relationship with sustainable rural development. The statistical population comprises 310 households residing in three healthy villages of Kermanshah province (HoriAbad et al.), totaling 969 individuals. A systematic random sampling method was employed for data collection.

The findings demonstrated that the indicators of Healthy Village are favorable, with a promising position in the environmental sector, averaging 4.90. Moreover, a significant correlation was found between different economic and ecological dimensions and indicators of a healthy village and sustainable rural development, with a confidence level of 95%. Furthermore, the villages investigated in this study were categorized into three groups. Nosmeh village exhibited the most favorable situation concerning the indicators of a healthy village, followed by HoriAbad and Pataq.

Additionally, Nosmeh village, which displayed the most satisfactory health status, also ranked highest in sustainable rural development. HoriAbad and Pataq villages ranked next regarding sustainable rural development and health.

This study suggests that having a variety of ways to earn a living is important for sustainable development. This is because it helps to keep different parts of the economy and society in balance and stable and ensures that resources are used efficiently and that the community can adapt to changes. "Livelihood diversity" refers to having multiple sources of income or ways to make a living. "Sustainable development" refers to a way of growing and developing that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The current study discusses the impact of having multiple sources of income on different aspects of social sustainability.

This study is both quantitative and applied in nature. The research was conducted in 8 villages in the Qaltuq district of Zanjan city. To complete the questionnaire, a sample size of 300 was calculated using Cochran's formula. Data was collected through library and field research (questionnaire) and analyzed using structural equations.

According to the research, livelihood diversity impacts various aspects of life, including social capital, social security, education, health, population dynamics, and quality of life. The respective values for each impact are 0.509, 0.454, 0.340, 0.290, and 0.305. This information was presented in the study's findings.

These findings were presented in the study. "Livelihood diversity" refers to having multiple sources of income or ways to support oneself. "Social capital" refers to the value of social networks and relationships in a community. "Social security" refers to having financial stability and support in times of need. "Population dynamics" refers to changes in the size and structure of a population over time.

In recent years, tourism development approaches have focused on the need for the participation of local indigenous communities, the protection of the environment and the culture of the host community, and the sustainable development of the community as a win-win approach. This research aims to model community-based tourism in the rural areas of the mountain villages of Nowshahr city. This research has been done to collect exploratory information and the purpose of the fundamental type and with the process of grounded theory. The data collection tool was semi-structured in-depth interviews that were conducted with 20 activists and experts in the field of cultural heritage, tourism, and handicrafts in the region by using theoretical and targeted sampling. The collected data were done with open, axial, and selective coding and by Maxqda2020 software, and the final model of community-based tourism was extracted. This model presents the causal factors affecting action for community-based tourism, contextual and intervening conditions, strategies, and consequences. The obtained results of this model led to the presentation of 32 concepts and 16 categories, the central phenomenon of which was a passion for action. The obtained judgment indicates that taking action in the direction of community-based tourism is a time-consuming phenomenon and requires the formation of specific conditions and the implementation of certain strategies, which leads to tangible positive and negative consequences for the local community.

This study examines the effect of microcredit accounts, Empowerment of rural women and rural development. Survey research was conducted in the second half of 2021. The study's sample comprises rural women in microcredit accounts in Karim Abad and Parluk villages in Saleh Abad County in Hamedan Province.

A questionnaire was used for data collection, but interviews, observations, and field studies were also used. Experts confirmed that the questionnaire had a valid face. The questionnaire was given to credit, economy, banking, and financial credit experts to determine its reliability. As a result of Cronbach's alpha analysis, a value of 0.82 was obtained, which is very satisfactory. SPSS software was used to analyze the data to identify the key factors.

Based on the value of variance, we present five significant factors that influence microcredit accounts of rural women in this study: economic and motivational factors (16.051), social damages (14.701), satisfaction (14.545), empowerment of employment (9.057), and investment development (7.371).

The rationalization sessions should be held for those not members of such credits to familiarize them with the development of such distinctions and encourage them to engage in profitable occupations. A further suggestion is to establish a communicative network among these credit institutions in other villages to share experiences and learn from one another.

 Today, in most metropolises, we are confronted with a phenomenon known as informal settlements in peri-urban areas, which causes various problems in economic, social, physical, and other domains. This study aimed to identify solutions for empowering informal settlements' physical and social structures in the Koshtargah region and villages within its sphere of influence (Case Study: Urmia County).

This is an interpretive study in terms of its objective and a mixed research in terms of methodology. Data were analyzed using background theoretical models and structural equations. The statistical population in qualitative and quantitative phs consisted of professors, graduates, and individuals knowledgeable in the field of study (urban and rural organizations). Sampling was conducted using purposive sampling to the point of theoretical saturation. In total, 25 in-depth interviews were conducted.

Based on the background theory, practical strategies for social and physical empowerment of informal settlements and villages within the sphere of influence include social institutionalization, creating economic incentives, increasing social capital and participation, enhancing security through physical development, establishing necessary mechanisms in line with empowerment policies and challenges, upgrading sectoral empowerment programs through integrated management and decentralized development, stemming from meaningful units. According to the AMOS software, the most essential physical and social empowerment strategies are enhancing the effectiveness of empowerment programs through integrated management and decentralized development and creating economic incentives with coefficients of 0.93 and 0.88, respectively.Additionally, within these strategies, the highest impact relates to addressing managerial challenges and strengthening the household economy, with coefficients of 0.59 and 0.61, respectively.

The results indicated that sustainable empowerment in informal settlements' physical and social domains can be achieved by addressing technical and managerial challenges and utilizing a decentralized development approach through integrated management.

 This study aimed to assess the factors influencing successful marriages, focusing on social networks in the peripheral rural areas of Mashhad city in northeastern Iran. This applied study utilized a qualitative-quantitative approach. The research methodology was descriptive-analytical. Data was collected through researcher-made questionnaires. The statistical population consisted of single and married men and women aged 20 to 50 in the rural areas of Mashhad city. Out of 314, subjects were selected using a random sampling method. The sample size was determined using the Alpha Chronbakh coefficient. Data were analyzed using SPSS Software. The results indicated the effect of the factors, including family environments, friendships, neighborhood relationships, familiarity at engagement ceremonies, workplace environments, and educational institutions, on the success of marriages. Family support, the way and environment of familiarity, age, education, and parents' relationship explained the success in marriage. The mentioned five variables predicted the outcome of pre-marital relationships in rural areas of Mashhad with 89.3% accuracy. The overall results suggest that the family institution plays a fundamental role in creating social and cultural conditions, making it the most significant player in marriage for children in peripheral rural areas of Mashhad City.

This research aimed to identify the factors on rural land use changes in Astane-ye-Ashrafiyeh County in Gilan Province.

This descriptive-analytical study uses field research methods to collect data. For analysis, the study used the One Sample T-test in SPSS software. The statistical population is 27 villages of Astaneh, and 381 rural households in these villages were selected in these villages to respond to the questionnaires. The number of samples was obtained from the Cochran formula.

The results of the T-test showed that the economic dimension, with an average score of 3.26 and at a very low significance level, is the most critical component in changing the rural land use in Astane-ye-Ashrafiyeh. Physical-spatial, social-cultural, and institutional-management dimensions were ranked next, respectively.

The confirmatory factor analysis results showed that out of 36 studied factors,13 were significant. These factors are youth unwillingness to engage in agricultural activities, willingness to settle in the city, uncontrolled land price by intermediaries, exploitation of agricultural land owners, low price of farm products, benefits from investors in the land and housing sector, tourism capabilities of the region, poor law enforcement and weak supervision of rural municipalities.

Smart Village aims to improve resource efficiency, empower local communities, ensure access to welfare facilities, and foster individual and social responsibility to create a vibrant and dynamic society. Therefore, the present research aims to identify a set of effective propellants for providing smart services in rural areas of Kish.

The present study is fundamentally interpretive and qualitatively based. Grounded theory and a combined model (F-ARAS + F-COPRAS) were used for data analysis. Non-probability purposive sampling was employed, and 17 individuals were selected as the sample size, reaching theoretical saturation.

The results of interviews with experts to identify a set of effective propellants in providing smart services in rural areas 51 concepts, 13 semantic units, and six categories (efficient and capable management, defining visions and priority areas, achieving budget allocation for smart services, the integrated management system of regulations, sensitizing various groups and aligning with smartification, considerations and requirements of the smartification process) It was extracted, Among them, the approach of considerations and requirements of the smartification process with a weight of 72.23 is the most important.

The results indicate that the intermediary system is eliminated by implementing the smartification plan, and a sustainable pattern replaces it. Rural areas, which have always been economically and educationally disadvantaged compared to cities, can achieve sufficient growth.

Locating rural settlements in order to prevent the erosion and destruction of the village due to environmental hazards or to prevent indiscriminate migration from the village to the city. The role of effective natural factors in the dispersion of rural settlements, such as slope, height, fault, geological and tectonic structure, water resources, soil, communication routes, vegetation cover, and land capability, have been taken into consideration.

This research is of a descriptive-analytical type, in which the fuzzy model was used to evaluate the location of villages in Khash city. Also, according to the output maps, most of the villages in the region are located in unfavorable conditions and inappropriate locations. The reason for this is the high slope of the area, the lack of proper access to the road, and the fact that another part of the area does not have access to surface and underground water because it is a desert.

The results of this research showed that in fuzzy logic, suitable areas are shown at 0.78%, good areas at 14.23%, average areas at 26.66%, and unsuitable areas at 58.31%.

Natural factors in the establishment of settlements in Khash city are among the most important factors in the establishment of villages, which were discussed and analyzed using the fuzzy logic model and spatial analysis in the GIS environment.

This study uses the meta-analysis method to extract concepts and related categories to the feasibility of neo-ruralism as a future pattern of urban-rural connectivity. The current research is fundamental in terms of purpose and inductive approach. The statistical population includes all sources about neo-ruralism from 1977 to 2023. The sources for this research have been selected from Google, Google Scholar, and Semantic Scholar search engines, as well as reputable databases such as ProQuest, Wiley, ResearchGate, MDPI, Hindawi, and ScienceDirect. Eventually, a total of 21 sources have been selected for the final analysis. In temporal terms, most sources are associated with 2016-2023, constituting 52% of the total resources. Regarding typology, 76% of the sources pertain to articles, while 24% are attributed to theses and books. Regarding databases, the share of ResearchGate, MDPI, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, Wiley, and Hindawi equals 38, 19, 14, 14, 10, and 5% respectively. Regarding methodology, most research sources are attributed to the literature review method (19%), followed by qualitative and descriptive-analytical content analysis methods, each comprising 14% of the research sources. A total of 56 codes, distributed across nine categories—including spatial planning, development discourse, multifunctionality, requirements, context, various factors and multiple levels, causal factors, spatial environment, and elements—contribute to influencing the development and feasibility of neo-ruralism as a future pattern of urban-rural connectivity.

This study aimed to identify strategies to enhance collaboration among managerial organizations for improving the provision of desirable services in the peripheral rural areas of Khash city. This is an applied study of an objective and exploratory nature. Also, a qualitative-quantitative method was used for data analysis. Data was analyzed using Grounded theory by SPSS software. The research tools were interviews and questionnaires. The statistical population included council members, village administrators, and Jihad-e-Sazandegi officials. A total of 35 individuals were selected by purposive sampling. The economic and social measures aligned with the performance of rural service management, adopting effective leadership styles, coordination, harmonizing tasks and authorities among organizations, and standardizing and specifying the performance of managers have been identified as strategies to enhance collaboration among managerial organizations for improving services in rural areas. Multiple regression analysis results demonstrate a significant correlation (0.643) between providing services to peripheral rural Khash regions and the strategies above. The regression fit model indicates that 74% of the strategy can explain the improvement of services to peripheral rural areas. Standardizing and specifying managers' performance have the most significant impact on enhancing collaboration among managerial organizations. Managerial organizations can enhance collaboration and improve services in rural areas by standardizing and specifying managers' performance at the organizational level.

Sustainable rural development is a comprehensive, balanced, and endogenous process wherein the capacities and capabilities of rural communities to fulfill primary material and spiritual needs, as well as to exert control over the forces shaping the local settlement system (ecological, social, economic, institutional and territorial), undergo enhancement and advancement. This research aims to identify and assess the geotourism capabilities and their role in the sustainable rural development of the proposed Dorfak and Deylaman Geopark in Gilan Province, the first of its kind in the north of Iran.

This study employs a descriptive-analytical method. Using field observations and library studies, selected landforms were identified using topographic and geological maps with scales of 1:50,000 and 1:100,000. Subsequently, the Fassoulas model was applied to six main groups (scientific-ecological, protection, cultural, aesthetic, economic, and potential for use criteria) for review and ranking.

The scores for the Dorfak karstic landscape (3.71), Dorfak glacial cave (3.36), Beshkafteh Sang (3), Yarshalman cave (2.91), Darband Rashi cave (2.87), Babu cave (2.125), Espahbadan cave (2.1), and Diarjan cave (1.92) were obtained, ranked in descending order from highest to lowest.

According to UNESCO guidelines, the findings demonstrate the substantial potential for investing in geosites, geomorphosites, and surrounding villages to establish the first geopark, fostering socio-economic-environmental development in this region. Beyond contributing to rural development and tourist attraction, this initiative has the potential to transform the area into a critical hub for geotourism within the country.