Investigating the Risk Management Role in Iran's Rural Development Planning

The general objective of development is the all-around growth of human societies, so in the process of planning for development, especially sustainable development, attention to hazards (natural, human, environmental, social, economic, etc.) is absolutely necessary. The high vulnerability of rural areas to natural disasters on the one hand, the low level of rural people's awareness, the high level of risk and uncertainty in rural activities on the other, are among other factors that make attention to risk management in rural development planning necessary, because inattention to risks and lack of their proper management leads to the failure of rural development programs. This study was conducted due to the importance of this issue (risk management) in rural environments and the necessity to pay attention to it in rural planning, and the results of the research indicate that "risk management" is a new topic in Iran (even at academic level). That is the reason why there is no other major source among Farsi texts (in the form of a book, research, or dissertation) specifically written on this subject except for a few translations of foreign papers. Furthermore, despite the importance of the issue of risk management in rural communities, it has not been paid due attention to in rural development planning, and we can even say that it has not been paid attention to at all, while in many countries risk management is considered a major part of planning.