Effective Factors on Sustainable Rurality in Villages of Ghoshkhaneh Watershed of Shirvan County

Many studies have focused on the socio-economic issues of villagers and the causes of their migration. But in most of these studies, the impact of watershed conditions, environmental aspects, and natural factors has been less investigated. This article seeks to examine natural factors along with social, cultural, economic, political, and welfare components to prioritize their impacts on rurality and rural settlement or evasion. The study area was villages of Ghoshkhaneh watershed of Shirvan County, Iran. Sample households were selected and surveyed based on the Cochran formula and through Multistage and Systematic Random Samplings. According to the results, natural, social, economic, and welfare components have significant relationships with rurality. The high impact of natural factors highlights the importance of natural resources on the sustainability of rural communities. According to natural factors, however, a need to rethink or prepare region-based natural resource plans, emphasis on green entrepreneurship approaches the creation of ecological businesses and applying future researches promises to move towards bio-sustainability, especially in rural communities.