Volume 11, Issue 42 (winter 2023 2023)
serd 2023, 11(42): 76-47 |
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Habibi S, Salehi S. Analysis of obstacles to the rural environment sustainability with an emphasis on economic and management contexts: A Grounded Theory (Case study: Tavalesh villages). serd 2023; 11 (42) :76-47
URL: http://serd.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3880-en.html
URL: http://serd.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3880-en.html
1- PhD in Sociology, Tendency to Study Social Issues in Iran, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.
2- Associate Professor in the Department of Social Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran. ,s.salehi@umz.ac.ir
2- Associate Professor in the Department of Social Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran. ,
Abstract: (2701 Views)
Introduction
Rural environmental protection has received increasing attention in recent years. The main issues include environmental pollution, land degradation, resource depletion, biodiversity loss, income loss, and public health risks. These issues are particularly acute in villages and remote regions of developing countries. Rural areas often lack the required resources to take needed action to protect the environment. Moreover, many management strategies associated with centralized and urban regions are unsuitable for implementation in rural areas. Although human interventions could degrade ecosystem sustainability, appropriate management could preserve the sustainability of rural ecosystems. The reverse of this case is also true. That is, inadequate management protection of natural resources also causes widespread destruction. Iran's environment, especially in rural areas, is as same as other countries, and in some cases, the factors of environmental degradation have expanded.
Various natural resources, such as water, forest land, pasture and mountains, are unique features of the villages in Gilan Province. However, the destruction of nature is also increasing as an environmental threat.
In the meantime, some degradation happened in the environment of the villages in the west of Gilan (Tavalesh), which are located between the shores of the Caspian Sea and the Talash mountain range and are mainly scattered in four mountainous, foothill, plain and coastal areas. It seems that the destructive state of the natural environment is mainly caused by destructive human behavior. Moreover, these behaviors occur in a context. Therefore, the primary contexts and conditions of occurrence of these destructive behaviors and their causes should be analyzed and investigated.
A deep understanding of economic-management mechanisms of the formation and expansion of environmental issues in rural society is vital for the researcher to enter the research field.
The main question of the study is what are the economic-management contexts affecting the formation of environmental problems in the studied rural community? According to the grounded theory method, the sub-questions are: What economic and management factors have formed the environmental problems in society? What are the central phenomena of environmental issues? What are the strategies for overcoming environmental problems? Moreover, what are the consequences of these strategies for society?
Methodology
In this qualitative research, grounded theory and the systematic approach of Strauss and Corbin were used. The study population consisted of experts and officials in natural resources and watershed management, agricultural jahad management, environmental protection organization, village council, rural municipality and villagers. Thirty-five people were selected by purposive sampling. Data were collected by a semi-structured interview and analyzed by using a coding technique. First, based on open coding, the main concepts of the research were obtained. In axial coding, by referring again to the text of the interviews, the factors affecting the environmental problems were identified and extracted from the interviewees' point of view. Then the main categories were obtained by merging one or more component categories. Finally, selective coding was done to integrate and refine the data to discover the main phenomenon and draw a paradigm model. The validity and reliability were evaluated based on control or validation by the participants.
Discussion and conclusion
Based on open coding, four main concepts of "unstable income", "unemployment", "production stagnation", and "denaturalization" as economic contexts and three concepts of "bad organization", "lack of specialization", and "mismanagement" as contexts for mismanagement creating environmental problems was extracted.
The main phenomenon is "environmental destruction and ecosystem instability". The background conditions are "natural situation, economic shortcomings and management challenges". The causal conditions affecting environmental destruction and ecosystem change are: "single-product economy", "organizational and managerial inefficiency", "organizational divergence", "dependent livelihood", and "unemployment". Furthermore, intervening conditions were identified as organizational involvement, lack of expert force, land sale, small ownership and small industries. Interactive strategies include: managerial integration, reforming human resources, defining alternative livelihoods, training appropriate to livelihoods, syndicating rural productions, revising national land laws, and determining national and personal land boundaries with the correct implementation of the Cadastre plan.
In rural areas, the natural situation, economic shortcomings and management challenges affect environmental degradation and ecosystem instability. The more the villagers have diverse natural resources and more access to natural resources, the greater their desire to use nature to generate income. In rural areas, the predominance of the single-product economy increases livelihood dependence on natural resources. The inefficiency and supervisory weakness of the responsible and custodian organizations, which is often represented in the form of organizational divergence, facilitates the process of environmental destruction.
Finally, the final statement from the paradigm model is that in rural areas, a set of economic-management factors affects environmental degradation and ecosystem instability. Environmental degradation and ecosystem instability appear in the context of the convergence of economic and management fields. This way, the "environmental multi-causal convergence" theoretical model was conceptualized.
Rural environmental protection has received increasing attention in recent years. The main issues include environmental pollution, land degradation, resource depletion, biodiversity loss, income loss, and public health risks. These issues are particularly acute in villages and remote regions of developing countries. Rural areas often lack the required resources to take needed action to protect the environment. Moreover, many management strategies associated with centralized and urban regions are unsuitable for implementation in rural areas. Although human interventions could degrade ecosystem sustainability, appropriate management could preserve the sustainability of rural ecosystems. The reverse of this case is also true. That is, inadequate management protection of natural resources also causes widespread destruction. Iran's environment, especially in rural areas, is as same as other countries, and in some cases, the factors of environmental degradation have expanded.
Various natural resources, such as water, forest land, pasture and mountains, are unique features of the villages in Gilan Province. However, the destruction of nature is also increasing as an environmental threat.
In the meantime, some degradation happened in the environment of the villages in the west of Gilan (Tavalesh), which are located between the shores of the Caspian Sea and the Talash mountain range and are mainly scattered in four mountainous, foothill, plain and coastal areas. It seems that the destructive state of the natural environment is mainly caused by destructive human behavior. Moreover, these behaviors occur in a context. Therefore, the primary contexts and conditions of occurrence of these destructive behaviors and their causes should be analyzed and investigated.
A deep understanding of economic-management mechanisms of the formation and expansion of environmental issues in rural society is vital for the researcher to enter the research field.
The main question of the study is what are the economic-management contexts affecting the formation of environmental problems in the studied rural community? According to the grounded theory method, the sub-questions are: What economic and management factors have formed the environmental problems in society? What are the central phenomena of environmental issues? What are the strategies for overcoming environmental problems? Moreover, what are the consequences of these strategies for society?
Methodology
In this qualitative research, grounded theory and the systematic approach of Strauss and Corbin were used. The study population consisted of experts and officials in natural resources and watershed management, agricultural jahad management, environmental protection organization, village council, rural municipality and villagers. Thirty-five people were selected by purposive sampling. Data were collected by a semi-structured interview and analyzed by using a coding technique. First, based on open coding, the main concepts of the research were obtained. In axial coding, by referring again to the text of the interviews, the factors affecting the environmental problems were identified and extracted from the interviewees' point of view. Then the main categories were obtained by merging one or more component categories. Finally, selective coding was done to integrate and refine the data to discover the main phenomenon and draw a paradigm model. The validity and reliability were evaluated based on control or validation by the participants.
Discussion and conclusion
Based on open coding, four main concepts of "unstable income", "unemployment", "production stagnation", and "denaturalization" as economic contexts and three concepts of "bad organization", "lack of specialization", and "mismanagement" as contexts for mismanagement creating environmental problems was extracted.
The main phenomenon is "environmental destruction and ecosystem instability". The background conditions are "natural situation, economic shortcomings and management challenges". The causal conditions affecting environmental destruction and ecosystem change are: "single-product economy", "organizational and managerial inefficiency", "organizational divergence", "dependent livelihood", and "unemployment". Furthermore, intervening conditions were identified as organizational involvement, lack of expert force, land sale, small ownership and small industries. Interactive strategies include: managerial integration, reforming human resources, defining alternative livelihoods, training appropriate to livelihoods, syndicating rural productions, revising national land laws, and determining national and personal land boundaries with the correct implementation of the Cadastre plan.
In rural areas, the natural situation, economic shortcomings and management challenges affect environmental degradation and ecosystem instability. The more the villagers have diverse natural resources and more access to natural resources, the greater their desire to use nature to generate income. In rural areas, the predominance of the single-product economy increases livelihood dependence on natural resources. The inefficiency and supervisory weakness of the responsible and custodian organizations, which is often represented in the form of organizational divergence, facilitates the process of environmental destruction.
Finally, the final statement from the paradigm model is that in rural areas, a set of economic-management factors affects environmental degradation and ecosystem instability. Environmental degradation and ecosystem instability appear in the context of the convergence of economic and management fields. This way, the "environmental multi-causal convergence" theoretical model was conceptualized.
Keywords: Economic-management contexts, Grounded theory, Tavalesh Villages, Environmental degradation, Ecosystem instability
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