1 2322-2131 Kharazmi University 3745 Special 1 12 2021 10 37 0 0 30 12 2021 01 12 2021
3743 Special 1 12 2021 10 37 1 20 18 12 2021 01 12 2021 3732 Special Identifying and Prioritizing the Drivers for Entrepreneurship Development in Rural Areas of Iran Ghadiri Masom Mojtaba c Khorasani Mohammad Amin d Torkashvand Zahra e Amidi Shima f c Professor of Geography & Rural Planning, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. d Professor of Human Geography, Department of Human Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran e Professor of Human Geography, Department of Human Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran f PhD student in Geography and Rural Planning, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran 1 12 2021 10 37 21 40 15 12 2021 01 12 2021 Introduction Entrepreneurship as a strategy in the development, prosperity and growth of human societies has been an invaluable mechanism through which all the factors, resources and facilities of a society are mobilized in a spontaneous and evolutionary fashion, which is the source of many positive economic and social effects and consequences. Knowing about the driving forces of rural entrepreneurship development are crucial. The development of rural entrepreneurship depends on some drivers such as appropriate infrastructure, environmental conditions, social cohesion and solidarity of entrepreneurs in different stages from production to supplement, quality of institutional services, supportive laws and policies and individual and behavioral characteristics of entrepreneurs. Despite the necessity of these drivers, the level of priority and significance are not the same, hence some of them will be mandatory and others might be complementary in the entrepreneurial process. This study seeks to identify the most important drivers of entrepreneurship development in rural areas of Iran by a systematic review of scientific publication in recent years, and prioritize these drivers based on their significance. Methodology This study is applied in terms of purpose, and descriptive-analytical in terms of content. In this study, meta-analysis method was used to identify the drivers of entrepreneurship development in rural areas of Iran. 50 published papers in national and international scientific research journals until March 2018 were used to identify the drivers of entrepreneurship development.  The main topic of these papers was entrepreneurship in rural areas of Iran. We implemented Q method for extracting and summarizing the most important factors of rural entrepreneurship. To this end, this study selected 38 Q statements as the Q sample. For sorting Q categories using purposive sampling method, 30 individuals familiar with rural entrepreneurship were selected as participants. Finally, factor analysis method in SPSS software was utilized to identify and prioritize the most important drivers of rural entrepreneurship. Discussion and conclusion Findings of the meta-analysis from the review of sources indicate that among the conducted studies, behavioral, educational and technological, supportive, economic, social, and environmental and infrastructure drivers are among the most important drivers of rural entrepreneurship development.  Based on the findings of the Q method, which prioritized the most important drivers of rural entrepreneurship, the discourse analysis and the participants' mental pattern highlighted the behavioral drivers. Behavioral drivers consist of ability to endure difficult and stressful situations, strengthen the self-confidence, problem solving skills, discipline at working, acknowledging opportunities and be risk-taking.  For educational drivers, the participants prioritized adequate access to information channels and resources, investment in research and development to increase productivity, and taking entrepreneurship training courses. For economic drivers, the respondents underscored the access to seed money, granting low-interest loans and tax deduction in creating new production units. On supportive drivers, the priority was for transparent economic and tax rules and household support. The expansion of platforms and infrastructure (road, electricity, telephone, Internet, etc.) was the most important condition for infrastructure drivers. As a result, in order to develop rural entrepreneurship, in addition to these drivers, it is necessary to consider issues such as establishing rural incubators and think tanks, establishing rural development councils and entrepreneurship parks, and providing basic infrastructure for policy makers and planners. 3733 Special Factors Affecting the Development of Date Processing and Complementary Industries in Rural Areas of Kerman Province Bani Asdi Neda g Samari Davood h Farajullah Hosseini Seyed Jamal i Omidi Najafabadi Maryam j g PhD Student, Agricultural Extension and Education, Department of Economics, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran h Associate Professor, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food Industry, Department of Agricultural Development, Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch, Karaj, Iran i Associate Professor, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food Industry, Department of Agricultural Development, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran j Associate Professor, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food Industry, Department of Agricultural Development, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran 1 12 2021 10 37 41 58 15 12 2021 01 12 2021 Introduction  Agricultural processing industries are groups in which an agricultural product is transformed to achieve better consumption, better supply and increase economic value. Thus the nature of both primary and secondary products are the same, but compared to the raw material, the final product is totally novel. Establishment of processing and complementary industries has positive and significant effects on strengthening the rural economy, which enhances the level and variety of products and preserves agricultural lands and rural landscape. Among agricultural products, date is one of the most important and strategic horticultural products in Iran. About 17% of the cultivated area and 13% of world date production are in Iran. Also, according to the latest Iranian Customs Office statistics in 2011, the export of dates from Iran raised 17.7 percent compared to 2010 and reached to more than 174 million dollars. Innovation is vital to a civilization. The new era of global development is experiencing an extensive competition based on innovation to access scarce and limited resources, which guarantees the long-term and sustainable growth path of society. Innovation is considered as an idea or attitude related to a product, service, machinery, policy and program that is new and implemented by an organization. Total Innovation Management (TIM) provides the components for the organization, culture, strategy and the relationship between them as well as a model for the relationship between non-technology and technology. The TIM implementation has three transformations. It expands from single to complete innovation, from segregated to integrated innovation, and from focusing merely on the company's internal resources to emphasizing the integration of internal and external resources. Therefore, innovation will not only be the responsibility of some individuals or functions but also an integrated strategic process for adding and creating value and involving all members of the organization at any time and place. Methodology This research is descriptive-analytical and using a survey method for data collection. The statistical population of this research is 200 people who are active in the three domains of marketing, packaging and processing of date in the processing and complementary industries in Kerman Province. The sample size was calculated by Cochran's formula and155 people were determined by a simple random sampling. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire which has 58 items. For the validity of the questionnaire, the opinions of experts were used and for the reliability the Cronbach's alpha was used, which was confirmed (higher than 0.70). In order to analyze the collected data, multiple regression and One-Way variance analysis. Discussion and conclusion The aim of this study was to identify the factors affecting the total innovation management in the development of date processing and complementary industries in Kerman Province. Findings confirmed that the relationship between innovation culture and the development of processing and complementary industries of dates is directly significant and innovation strategy has an inverse relationship to the culture of innovation. In other words, the value of strategic innovation decreased, but the culture of innovation increased. In the case of technology management, as the findings showed, the values are positive, i.e. with the rise in technology management variable, the development of processing and complementary industries increases. Also, with the organizational structure variable, the value of “b” related to innovation culture and strategic innovation and technology management decreases. However, organizational structure has increased. The values for the organizational structure variable are positive, i.e. with the rise in the organizational structure variable, the rate of processing and complementary industries of dates improves. It seems that Kerman Province has the necessary conditions and capabilities for date cultivation and expansion of processing and complementary industries of this product. Establishment of complementary industries and date processing in the region can contribute to suitable conditions for economic development of Kerman Province by providing higher efficiency and profit for conventional date production, hence causing more income and higher standard of living for businesses. 3734 Special Capabilities of Social Capital for Economic Empowerment of Villagers Case: Border Villages of Marivan County Karimi Alireza k Daneshmehr Hossein l k Faculty member of Sociology Department, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran l Faculty member of University of Kurdistan and researcher of rural studies of the Research Institute of Kurdistan Studies, Sanandaj, Iran 1 12 2021 10 37 59 76 15 12 2021 01 12 2021 Introduction Social capital is a way of economic empowerment of local and rural communities with which they can overcome the poverty in these communities. Bourdieu underscores the convertibility of various forms of capital and the final alteration of all forms of capital into economic capital. He believes that among all types of capital, economic capital has the ability to convert to other capitals easily and quickly. However, social capital is no only difficult to convert, but also it cannot be easily used as a direct alternative for other forms of capital. Actors can have direct access to economic resources and capital through social capital. In developing countries such as Iran especially in rural areas, social capital as an independent variable and its effects on economic empowerment or as Bourdieu argues the conversion of social capital into economic capital has been less investigated. This must be also the case for the areas in border of Marivan County. A large part of the borderline region of Marivan County in Kurdistan Province includes the villages of Khav and Mirabad Districts. Economic empowerment is crucial for these villages to maintain their population and hence the border security particularly for the piggyback cross-border smuggling phenomenon.  Accordingly, economic empowerment of the border villagers of Marivan County is an absolute necessity. The main questions of this study are: 1. What is level the economic empowerment of villagers and their social capital? 2. What is the relation of social capital to economic empowerment of the villagers? Methodology A survey method was used for a quantitative data collection by a questionnaire. The statistical population of the study is the villages of Khav and Mirabad District of Marivan County in Kurdistan Province. Khav and Mirabad District comprises one rural district including 39 villages, 32 of which are inhabited. Khav and Mirabad District is located in the west of Marivan County and the Iran-Iraq border.  The samples were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling. From a total of 32 inhabited villages in Khav and Mirabad District, 22 villages were selected as the sample. The selection of these villages is inconsistence with their geographical location and population. The selection of these villages is based on their geographical location and population. The independent variable of study or social capital was measured via 7 indicators. The indicators used are subjective participation, objective participation, social interactions, social cohesion, in-group trust, out-group trust and institutional trust. The dependent variable of the research or the economic empowerment of the villagers, examines the extent of the villagers' ability to increase income, create new jobs, save money, repay bank installments, etc. Discussion and conclusion Findings of this study show that social capital has inverse relation to the economic empowerment of the villagers. However, examining the indicators and their significance indicate that in-group social capital in the community has strengthened and out-group social capital has weakened. The relation of indexes of out-group social capital such as out-group social trust and institutional trust with economic empowerment was not significant, but their direction is positive. Although in-group social capital in the rural community has beneficial functions in rural ceremonies and collective actions, the emphasis on that and ignoring out-group social capital lead to reproducing traditional capabilities. Weak rural communication network and emphasis on in-group communication reduces the likelihood of novel activities and capabilities in rural communities. In fact, localized networks are good for developing small enterprise like farming, animal husbandry and retailing in the rural community, or latest informal jobs like piggyback cross-border smuggling and construction workers in Tehran. Planners and public administrative in rural development have been taking the simplest way to empower the rural community, which is the allocation of small loans or a kind of distribution of money in the rural community. Despite its inefficiency, it remains the most common method of economic empowerment in rural communities. Gaining the trust of the villagers by rural community institutions, teaching new and relevant skills to the rural community, avoiding the money distribution among the villagers in the form of loans, using social capital within the villagers to form cooperatives production are the strategies with durability and more effectiveness 3735 Special Modeling the Resilience of Eco-Resorts in Rural Areas of Giulan Province Zahiri Anoshiravan m Sanaeepour Hadi n Rastegar Abdolghani o m PhD graduate in Entrepreneurship, Business Accelerator Manager in Omid Khalaq n Assistant Professor, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Management, Gonbad Kavous University, Gorgan, Iran o Assistant Professor Faculty of Humanities, , Department of Management, Gonbad Kavous University, Gorgan, Iran 1 12 2021 10 37 77 96 15 12 2021 01 12 2021 Introduction Economic actors must be prepared to identify and plan risks. In other words, businesses need to improve their resilience. Improving business resilience consists planning for risks and businesses capabilities for surviving and thriving despite unfavorable conditions. Business resilience is the structural and procedural dynamics that enable businesses to have the capacity to address challenges. Survival and development of businesses operating in today's unstable environment depends to some extent on their resilience. In this regard, eco-resorts call for improvement of their resilience capacity. Resilience capacity enhances the ability of eco-tourism businesses in the face of specific situations and accelerates transformational actions in the event of unexpected and important events and contributes to the long-term survival of the organization. To this end, the purpose of this study is modeling the resilience of eco resorts in rural areas of Giulan Province.  A literature review was conducted and verified the research gap in the importance of business resilience in rural areas and highlighted that no study has been conducted to address this issue. Also, it should be noted that the rural economy is not merely economic, but also social, political and security aspects, and this study can contribute to new perspectives on this matter. Methodology The present study is exploratory. The study uses a qualitative method and specifically a grounded theory, to model the resilience pattern of eco-tourism businesses in rural areas of Gilan Province. Semi-structured interviews with key practitioners and informants were used as the means of data collection. For this purpose, a snowball sampling was used. 18 interviewees were selected and the collected information reached saturation point. For data analysis, the systematic method of Strauss and Corbin was performed in three main steps: open coding, axial coding and selective coding. After conducting interviews and integrating common themes using the grounded theory method, the categories were divided into six groups: causal factors, context factors, axial phenomenon or component, intervening factors, strategies and consequences, and ultimately a paradigmatic model was designed. The validity of the research tool was confirmed by participants, and peers. The reliability of the results was evaluated by several experts on the topic and the final model was extracted. Discussion and conclusion Based on the findings, the causal factors of the research include the variables of entrepreneurial attitude (including entrepreneurial awareness and identification, discovery and creation of opportunities in rural areas), entrepreneurial orientation and leadership, entrepreneurial characteristics, technology-based entrepreneurship and strategic entrepreneurial perspective of business owners in this rural region. Also, intervention factors were identified as variables of creative and innovative milieu, entrepreneurial culture of rural areas, customer service and networking between entrepreneurs and residents of rural areas, communication and coordination within the organization and stakeholders, social exchange of the local community. The context factors of the research consisted of the development of public and technological infrastructure in rural areas, improving the macroeconomic and social environment, promoting institutional arrangements (government, public sector and market), rural destinations and attractions and their uniqueness. Eco tourism business resilience strategies comprise creating virtual social networks for promoting rural businesses, financial supports, administrative supports, political supports, legal supports, advertising, marketing and branding of rural businesses, improving individual and managerial skills of rural economic actors, reviewing business plans, strategic planning of human capital, providing a sustainable competitive advantage (competitiveness) for rural businesses and knowledge management for local people. In conclusion, the resilience of eco-tourism businesses leads to consequences such as sustainability, durability and flexibility of rural businesses, exploiting business opportunities in rural areas, creating security in rural areas by establishing sustainable development (socio-cultural, economic and environmental), job creation, social welfare, prosperity of the local economy and reverse migration to rural areas. 3736 Special Factors Influencing the Sustainable Livestock Industry Development in Northern Rural Areas of Kerman Province Saei Mahdiyeh p Shakeri Pirooz Salehi Asghar Rahmani Sefatolah p Assistant Professor of Economic Social and Agricultural Extension Research, Natural Resources and Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization of Kerman Province, Kerman, Iran Research Associate, Department of Animal Nutrition and Physiology Research, Animal Science Research Institute, Karaj, Iran Assistant Professor of Economic Social and Agricultural Extension Research, Natural Resources and Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization of Kerman Province, Kerman, Iran Assistant Professor, Department of Economic Social and Extension Research, Education and Extension Organization, Tehran, Iran 1 12 2021 10 37 97 112 15 12 2021 01 12 2021 Introduction Providing qualified, healthy and enough food for the population of the country has always been a fundamental issue for government officials and experts. At the same time, the economic growth of the society, the raise of consumption of livestock products in the household and the growth of the population have increased the demand for these products. Given these, conducting new scientific research for sustainable development of animal husbandry and promotion of livestock production is one of the inevitable strategies. Kerman Province has a dry/arid climate, but due to its large rangelands, it is one of the traditional nomadic places for rural livestock activities in the country. Because of unbalanced distribution, some areas of Kerman Province have a good ability to produce livestock, especially in rural and nomadic areas, which has a large share in supplying meat and dairy products needed for local people and even exported to neighboring places.  At present, the north of Kerman province is ranked the 13th red meat, egg and honey producer, the 17th milk producer and the 18th chicken meat producer. The amount of animal husbandry employment in this province is 40%. A small amount of studies in Iran investigated structural and institutional factors influencing the sustainable development of the livestock industry. This is a common issue for other countries too.  Studies have been mostly on the factors on sustainable development of other sectors such as tourism, sustainable rural development, etc. Methodology According to the purpose, nature and method, this study is considered as an applied and descriptive-analytical research, respectively. The statistical population consisted of three groups: experts of the deputy for livestock in Agricultural Jahad Organization of Kerman Province, experts of the Animal Sciences Research Department of the Kerman Agricultural Research Center, and some representatives of private sector organizations. 20 individuals were selecetd from these groups.  The data collection tool was a questionnaire including 70 close questions. This questionnaire was divided in 7 domains (indicators): vision, objectives and macro strategies in policy (4 items), process and cycles of input supply and sales of livestock products (4 items), vision, objective and strategies for sustainable development of livestock industry (12 items), upgrading the capacity of existing economic activities in the livestock industry (18 items), sustainable development programs in the livestock industry (10 items), effective mechanisms in sustainable development of the livestock industry (13 items), social and institutional  requirements for implementation of development projects (7 items).  Discussion and conclusion The results of the study obtained using descriptive and inferential statistics showed that for the vision, objectives and macro strategies in policy for Kerman Province in the official documents (before the Sixth National Development Plan and after two-year implementation of the Plan), the most successful livestock was first the heavy livestock and then the poultry. Light livestock and aquatic animals are the next prospering livestock before the Sixth National Development Plan. However, the performance of the two-year implementation of the Sixth Plan has been less successful than the previous plans, so this need to be addressed in planning and policy making. Regarding the process and cycles of input supply and sales of livestock products, experts believe that supplying the inputs (fodder and concentrate, chickens, genes, vaccines, medicine, etc.) before production, and then services and supply during production, such as veterinary and health services, technical guidance to production units are the most effective measures. On the other hand, marketing procedure and products supply to the final consumer as well as the collection, processing and processing of livestock products are less important. Therefore, the problems of providing inputs and fodder and services should be a priority for the relevant organizations. One of the most effective indicators of sustainable development of the livestock industry in the north of Kerman Province is the income enhancement. Consequently, any policy for sustainable development of the livestock industry should first increase the income for the ranchers. The experts also believe that the facilitation of the Agriculture Jahad Organization is the most effective action for enhancing the capacity of economic activities in the livestock industry. The facilitator enables the group or organization to operate more effectively, increase collaboration, and create cooperation. The facilitator also encourages individuals to participate, understand each other, and collectively do tasks. Among the current programs for sustainable development of the livestock industry in the north of Kerman Province, increasing production and productivity is of the highest importance from the experts' point of view. Improving the entrepreneurial attitude and identifying human resources in the livestock industry to implement projects are the other variables that can pave the way for improving and promoting the sustainable development of the rural livestock industry in the north of Kerman Province. 3737 Special Prioritize the of Agricultural Conversion Industries in Rural Areas of the Central District of Minab County Zakernasab Abbas Afsharipoori Ali Master Graduate in Geography and Rural Planning, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran. PhD Graduate in Geography and Rural Planning, Teacher in Kuhbanan County, Kerman, Iran. 1 12 2021 10 37 113 128 15 12 2021 01 12 2021 Introduction The agricultural sector has always been supposed by scholars, managers, planners and governments for sustainable rural development. Increasing production scale cannot lead to agricultural progress, per se. The use of processing and complementary industries for greater productivity of agricultural products can result to increased product quality and greater profitability, as well as more employment and ultimately sustainable development of rural areas. However, these industries must be establishing in a favorable place. In rural places, conversion and complementary industries was proposed as a suitable method proposed by researchers for the development to combine both of agriculture and industry sectors.  Therefore, it is necessary to first evaluate the different conditions and identify the most suitable place for the construction of processing industries. Secondly, it is very important to introduce the most appropriate type of processing industries and the agricultural crops (agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries, etc.) for these industries to be established. In fact, this study seeks to find out which areas in Minab County has the most suitable situation to establish processing and complementary industries in the agricultural sector? Methodology The research indicators were first extracted by studying the background theoretical foundations and the literature, and then the data was obtained from statistical yearbooks of agriculture in Hormozgan Province. Also, for qualitative indicators, the required information was collected by designing a questionnaire consisting of 20 experts familiar with the situation of the studied villages. The TOPSIS multi-criteria decision-making technique has been used to prioritize four rural areas in the Central district of Minab County. In this technique, the positive or negative effect of each indicator on the main goal can be considered and according to the weight of each indicator the options can be ranked. Discussion and conclusion Minab County divided in four districts: Bandzarak, Tokhoor, Sandrak and Central. In this study, the Central district and its four rural districts (Karian, Tiab, Hoomeh and Goorband) were appointed to be ranked for agricultural processing and complementary industries. In this section, according to the steps of TOPSIS method, it has been tried to prioritize the rural areas of the Central District of Minab County according to the specific indicators for the establishment of agricultural processing and complementary industries. Since the goal is to prioritize the establishment of processing and complementary industries, the indicators are not of equal importance and weight. Thus in order to prioritize rural areas in the Central District of Minab County, the weight of each index was calculated by Shannon entropy method (value between 0 and 1). The highest weight is related to x4 and x5 indexes i.e. the amount of crop production and the amount of horticultural production (production volume per ton). The distances from the best alternative to the worst alternative and the overall score or TOPSIS score, which based on that rural areas are ranked. In fact, the village that gets more overall score has a higher priority for the establishment of agricultural processing and complementary industries. In this case, Karian Village with a score of 0.68, Goorband village with a score of 0.54, Hoomeh village with a score of 0.21 and finally Tiab village with a score of 0.08 are ranked respectively.  This is also shown in a diagram in the study.  In other words, TOPSIS technique showed that the most important indicators for this are the amount of crop production and the amount of horticultural production (production volume per ton). The amount of production must cost effective for establishment of the industry.  Therefore, it was determined that it is better to establish the industry first in the Central District of Minab County, and then in Karian Rural District. 3738 Special Factors Affecting the Reduction of Socio-Economic Habitability in Border Villages of Baneh County Hedayat Osman Basity Shahram PhD student in Sociology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Payam-e-Noor University, Tehran, Iran 1 12 2021 10 37 129 152 15 12 2021 01 12 2021 Introduction One of the most important conditions and challenges that have affected the life in border areas is the border economy. Border economy refers to trade and economic exchanges and interactions across borders that can lead to economic and social change in border areas. These exchanges and interactions may take place legally or illegally, and formally or informally.  In any case, all these actions will have extensive social and economic consequences for border areas. The extension of these consequences for border villages might be vital because of proximity to border and the weakness of social and economic conditions. In this situation, border villages are marginalized as areas with low competitiveness and exchange capacity to be part of the development programs, policies and strategies. Border villages are also exposed to growth and continuity of opportunities and threats which affect the quality of life and the needs of residents. This situation can seem more complex when we add the access to services, the ecological threats of border areas, and the issue of migration.  Regarding all these problems, habitability of rural areas is so challenging.  The present study with a sustainable development and rural habitability perspective investigates the effects of border economy on the habitability of rural border areas of Khav and Mirabad District. So the questions of the study are as follows: how the socio-economic habitability of the border villages and to what extend the socio-economic condition of these areas is instable? Methodology A qualitative methodology has been adopted for this study. Among the qualitative methods, the grounded theory is suitable for developing theoretical framework, which recognizes the social problems. It has characteristics such as theoretical capability, continuous and active relationship of the researcher with the topic and flexibility. Due to the nature of the present study, we used the "semi-structured interview" tool. Theoretical and purposeful sampling methods are used to select the interviewees who were asked the questions related to the research objectives. The length of the interview varied from one to two hours at their place of residence. Interviews were conducted with 46 key informants, including rural mayor, councils and religious actors in Nanur Rural District in Baneh County. According to the geographical location, Nanur Rural District has 17 villages located near the borderline. The existence of Siranband Border Market and Baneh free trade zone has given a special sitution to these villages. Discussion and conclusion The interviews findings showed that the border economy has strongly affected the living conditions of residents. Geographical and border conditions have shaped this situation. Uneven land elevation, land fragmentation, avoiding to use land resources, land conflicts are the most important components of the border consequences. Opportunistic attitude of border residents, lack of education, increasing dependence of villagers on public financial support, defective border markets and increasing smuggling of goods, land grabbing by capitalists are some reasons for shaping border economy of these areas. These indicate that border communities have been experiencing social and cultural transformation. Given that, the areas are facing a decrease in the economic balance. In addition, factors such as institutional barriers to production, lack of investment in agriculture, animal husbandry and industry, and security and militant orientation to these regions have contributed to the border situation, which implies the weakness of development infrastructure. We concluded that the consequences of cross-border economic effects on rural habitability was instability and reduced socio-economic resilience. Components such as high price, dependence on public support, high unemployment and lack of sales of villagers' products, and transaction intermediaries have led to poverty and instability and livelihoods reduction in the villages. However, the villagers and organizations have taken measures to deal with these consequences. Rural development and reconstruction, agricultural prosperity and turning to modern animal husbandry, reverse migration have been among the actions of the villagers, which have brought about positive results. The public organization actions such as issuing border cards and fuel cards and establishing border cooperatives have been temporary and had negative results due to political and ideological issues, and even aggravated the instability of the villages. 3739 Special Good Governance Facilitating Role for Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Rural Areas Case: Gomishan County Faraji Sabokbar Hassanali Darban Astaneh Alireza Akhavan Heydari Kourosh Modanlou Jouybari Masoud Khatami Helia Associate Professor of Geography and Rural Planning, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Assistant Professor of Geography and Rural Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. PhD graduate in Geography and Rural Planning, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Postdoctoral Researcher in Geography and Urban Planning, University of Tehran and Iran National Science Foundation, Tehran, Iran Master graduate in Environmental Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran 1 12 2021 10 37 153 174 15 12 2021 01 12 2021 Introduction Good governance is one of the most important and recent concepts that has been addressed in the development literature since the 1980s. A good rural governance is one of the basic requirements for achieving sustainable development. Rural entrepreneurship seeks to find the right combination of resources for economic activities to maximize profits. Moreover, rural entrepreneurs seek innovation and creativity in agricultural and non-agricultural activities, land use and optimal, diverse and innovative resource utilization for rural development. However, the development of businesses and rural entrepreneurship will not be possible without the entrepreneurial support of rural governance. Good rural governance is the implementation of rural policies in line with the people's interest and compatible with national, regional and local interests. It plays an important role in shaping regulation, and promoting and facilitating entrepreneurship for entrepreneurs. Efforts by public and private institutions at the societal level can reduce the constraints of entrepreneurship by reducing opportunity costs for new businesses. The word entrepreneurship comes from a French word meaning commitment and implies the process of creating value through the formation of a unique set of resources in order to take advantage of opportunities. Methodology The present research is applied and developmental in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. Data collection has been done in both filed study and desk research.  The statistical population of this study is households living in rural areas of Gomishan County which consists of 5111 households. The unit of analysis is divided in three groups of households in the northern and eastern and western zones of Gomishan. In this study, 263 samples are taken in a systematic random sampling method using Cochran's formula. This study analyzed data in a multidisciplinary decision-making approach using WASPAS method and Interpretive structural modeling (ISM), which identifies and determines the relationships between 31 factors. These are extracted from interviews with experts as well as previous studies on good governance and entrepreneurship. Discussion and conclusion In the ISM graph, the factor of participation and legitimacy is at the lowest level of the good governance indicator in facilitating entrepreneurial opportunities, so these variables should be prioritized. The factor of efficiency and effectiveness also acts as a basis in the second level. The factors of consensus oriented, equity and inclusiveness are in the third level, and the factors of transparency and responsiveness are in the fourth level, and the factors of accountability are in the fifth level. In examining the impact and dependency of the variables of effectiveness and efficiency, consensus oriented and legitimacy are more influenced by other factors and from a systemic dependent element. In other words, many factors are involved in creating these elements and they can be less likely to cause the other variables. The variables of equity and inclusiveness are in the group of independent (autonomous) variables that have weak drive and dependence. These variables are relatively unconnected to the system and have high drive and low dependence. Transparency, accountability and participation are among the major effective variables of good governance in facilitating entrepreneurial opportunities. Basically, variables that have high impact power are called major variables. These variables fall into one of two groups of independent or linkage variables. Accountability is one of the linkage variables and has a high drive power and dependence. On the solution of the linear model in the best-worst method, participation variable with a weight of 0.401 were ranked first, as the most important index and accountability variable with a weight of 0.024 ranked eight, the least important indicator of good governance in facilitating entrepreneurial opportunities. The adaptability rate is at an acceptable level of 0.013. Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment is a new technique with high effectiveness and efficiency in the decision-making process. This technique is a combination of weighted sum model and weighted linear combination that make the output of the model very accurate. The findings show that in Gomishan County in terms of the effect of good governance factor facilitating entrepreneurial opportunities, the first, second and third ranks are the villages of the eastern area with a value of 3.365, the villages of the western area with a value of 3.229, and the villages of the northern area with a value of 3.117, respectively. 3740 Special Explaining the Role of Financial Credits for Agricultural Production in Rural Areas of Masal County Ashouri Moridani Somayeh Ghoreyshi Mohammad Baset Pourramzan Issa PhD Student in Geography and Rural Planning, Department of Geography, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran Assistant Professor, Department Geography, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran 1 12 2021 10 37 175 198 15 12 2021 01 12 2021 Introduction The limited financial capital in villages and the distance between rural production units and the policy of urban financial institutions have caused the lack of financial resources for villagers.  It should be noted that the low returns of both labor and capital factors has reduced the incentive for financial institutions to invest in agriculture, industry and services. In order to overcome this problem, one of the solutions within the framework of rural development policies is to provide micro-credits. This mechanism, which can eliminate the major problems of the rural economic system, has been widely appreciated in the last decade. Being so successful to a great extent, the United Nations named 2005 the Year of Micro credit. The various capabilities of Masal County in Gilan Province have caused managers to seek financial funding from the government for various economic, physical and social sectors of villages to reduce rural poverty and boost local productivity. To this end, the credits were granted from the Agricultural Jahad Organization for agriculture (agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry) and the banks for tourism and handicrafts to the villagers.   Methodology According to the purpose, nature and method, this study is considered as an applied and descriptive-analytical research, respectively. A descriptive method was used to identify the current situation in rural areas of Masal County. In this way, the agricultural land capability and the quantitative and qualitative status of agricultural inputs were identified. Documentary research and field studies were used to collect the required data. In the next step, these descriptive findings were evaluated to analyze the role of financial credits in creating agricultural developments using statistical analysis. The statistical population of the study consists of villagers living in rural areas of Masal County. According to the census of the Statistics Center of Iran in 2016, Masal has 94 inhabited villages with 9380 households and 29019 people and 14 uninhabited villages, which includes 55.1% of the total population of Masal County. 15 sample villages were selected, which include 2406 households. Using Cochran's formula, we determine 331 households as the sample size to complete the questionnaire.   Discussion and conclusion 63% of the total respondents received loans and financial credits in the agricultural sector. 37.8% of them admitted that the role of these credits in guiding the villagers towards new cultivation methods was moderate. 33.5% believe that the share of financial credits in increasing rural agricultural production has been between 11% and 19%. In other words, we can say: 58.9% of the respondents who used the received credits in the agricultural sector presume the effectiveness of the credits to be less than 20%. After evaluating and analyzing each of the components related to financial credits for the agricultural developments, each item for the components was scored. The weighted mean of the items shows that the item "role of financial credits in creating new and high-yield crops" with an average of 3.98 in the first place, the item "willingness of villagers to reuse financial credits in the agricultural sector" with an average of 3.72 in the second place, and the item "The effect of financial credits on bringing villagers to provide advanced equipment, tools and machinery in increasing land productivity" with an average of 2.86 is in third place. Based on this we can say: Granting financial credits to farming villagers has made them more capable of carrying out economic activities in the agricultural sector. By providing suitable inputs such as seeds, seedlings, fertilizers, pesticides, as well as improving agricultural and horticultural lands, and using advanced tools and equipment, they were able to increase the efficiency of their lands. In some cases, they were able to exploit bare lands, and help increase the land use.  After increasing production and the improvement of the living conditions of the villagers, the service sector has greatly decreased. Based on this we can say: Financial credits have been able to bring about changes in the agricultural sector in rural areas of Masal County. Thus, they have a positive effect on them. 3741 Special Investigating the Effects of US Economic Sanctions on the Rural Economy in Iran Rabi’i Hossein Takrosta Maryam Associate Professor of Political Geography, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran ; Master Graduate in Geography and Rural Planning, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran 1 12 2021 10 37 199 214 15 12 2021 01 12 2021 Introduction Sanctions are means to avoid violence in order to intentionally purchase or trade with a person, organization or country as an expression of protest, usually for moral, social, political or environmental reasons. Sanctions on Iran can be divided into seven categories in terms of their character. Financial sanctions of commercial banks and central banks, sanctions of the European Union and international organizations, sanctions of mercantile (import and export) and investment, sanctions of petroleum, sanctions of knowledge and technology, detention of international property and assets of Iranian individuals and organizations, and sanctions of transactions with Iranian individuals and organizations. These sanctions have influenced different aspects of Iran's economy as have been highlighted by the researchers. Sanctions affect production and welfare, optimal portfolio of investors, economic growth, environmental pollution, the countries’ major trading partners, etc. The damage caused by economic catastrophe and its impact on people varies at different scales. Many studies underlined that villagers are highly vulnerable due to poor economic conditions. Also, it should be noted that the resistance and reconstruction of the national economy in the face of sanctions requires a change in the management of microeconomic resources which are the potential factors of economic growth. In regard to the effects of economic sanctions on the economy of rural areas, in this study the indicators of rural economy were investigated to evaluate and analyze its relationship with sanctions in the period 2012 to 2018. Methodology The purpose of this article is to examine the effects of US sanctions on the rural economy in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In order to do that, the study used a descriptive-analytical method. A literature review was conducted to refer to domestic and international published papers in Normags, Jahan-e-Islam, Science Direct, etc., and was used for the theoretical foundations of the study. Furthermore, the secondary data available in the Statistics Center of the Islamic Republic of Iran in relation to rural economics was utilized for the evaluation.  Due to the novelty of the topic, there was a shortage of academic source about economic sanction and its relation to rural economy.   Discussion and conclusion The findings confirm that the sanctions have had a significant impact on Iran's economy, especially the rural economy. Although Iran's agricultural sector experienced positive growth in 2019, the growth is not stable and in case of recurrence of disasters such as drought and water scarcity will be weakened. Petroleum and gas export has been the main sources of Iran's economy after the 1980s war. The value added of the crude oil and natural gas extraction sector in 2019 continuously decreased to 35%. This strategic sector of the country's economy started to drop in the fall of 2018 at the same time as imposing sanctions against the country. This amount was 33.5 % drop in the fall of 2018, and in the winter of the same year, it dropped to 26 %. in the spring of 2019, the sector growth was negative 41%, in summer of this year was negative 47%, in the fall was negative 15.3% and in the winter was negative 26.8%. Based on the data from the Statistics Center in 2016 (after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), the growth of fossil energy sector is higher than the average growth of other sectors, and the size of Iran's economy with oil will be larger than the size of the economy without oil, which is ignored by opponents of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. On the other hand, the significant fall in Iran's foreign exchange earnings immediately appeared in the Iranian industrial sector from 2018 to the fall of 2019. Meanwhile, the villages have been significantly affected by these sanctions due to their weak and fragile economy. The effects are shrinking household size, significant decline in agriculture sector, crop production, revenue, income gap, etc. 3742 Special The Role of Culinary Tourism on the Economic Sustainability of Rural Areas of Mazandaran Province Hosseinzadeh Erfaneh Shamsoddini Ali Rabia Ghorbaninejad Rabiaz Tavakolan Ali PhD Student in Geography and Rural Planning, Islamic Azad University, Rasht Branch, Rasht, Iran Assistant Professor, Department of Geography and Rural Planning, Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht Branch, Marvdasht, Iran Assistant Professor, Department of Human Geography, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran Assistant Professor, Department of Human Geography, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran 1 12 2021 10 37 215 235 15 12 2021 01 12 2021 Introduction Culinary tourism may have many economic benefits for rural areas. Many practitioners consider this type of tourism as a tool for rural development that can stimulate the local economy and support existing jobs and create new jobs in these areas. Food tourism events have recently become a major means for economic development in villages and local areas. The question of the study is to what extent culinary tourism has been able to be effective in maintaining economic growth and development in the rural areas particularly the north regions of the country and foster the survival and stability of the villages.   Methodology  The present research is applied in terms of purpose and a mix method (qualitative-quantitative) study in terms of data collection. The qualitative part consists of a content analysis and the quantitative part is descriptive-exploratory. The method of data collection is a desk research and a field study using semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire. The research population is also divided into qualitative and quantitative. The research community for the qualitative part comprises the experts of the Tourism and Cultural Heritage Organization, as well as professors on rural planning and development in Mazandaran Province. The characteristics of them were high experience as a manager, knowledge of the research topic, and they were selected in a purposeful and snowball method, so 16 people were selected to achieve a saturation. The statistical population for quantitative part was a limited and included 375 restaurateurs, accommodation owners, hotel owners and experts of the Tourism and Cultural Heritage Organization. 182 of them were randomly selected using the Cochran's formula. Coding was the data analysis tool for qualitative part and Delphi technique was used to design the model in quantitative part. Finally, the model was obtained using the structural equation modeling and PLS Smart software.   Discussion and conclusion In many countries, food tourism is closely in consistence with agricultural policies and is often deemed as a means to support a sustainable rural economy. When it comes to sustainability in rural development, economic growth and poverty alleviation for villagers along with optimizing the social structure of their communities, which is obtained by equitable distribution of services and promoting sustainable livelihoods. Non-agricultural activity diversification in rural areas accelerates the process of sustainable development, not only economically but also culturally and socially. Since Mazandaran Province is popular tourist destinations in Iran, it has the capability to utilize food as a tourism axis in this province. The present study demonstrates that for the culinary tourism in the studied area, the three categories of marketing, services and planning should be attended. This will result to sustainable income, economic growth and sustainable employment, and ultimately to foster a sustainable economy. All indicators for the model of culinary tourism on sustainable rural economy of Mazandaran were confirmed. These findings show that the aspects of food tourism, sustainable income, economic growth and sustainable employment have been able to form a model for analyzing food tourism in a sustainable rural economy. In conclusion, the aspects of the model and the underling hypothesis were validated.