ThE ECONOMIC POTENTIAL OF ECOVILLAGES IN ThE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL AREAS

The government policy in the agrarian sector is aimed at the recovery of the Russian village from the crisis and its transition to a new quality level, which is one of the key strategic goals of the social and economic development of the country. The establishment of a competitive agrarian sector will contribute to solving the problem of the country’s food security and become an important factor of the sustainable development of rural areas. The paper analyzes the economic potential of the new form of rural settlements and its role in the sustainable territorial development taking into account accumulated resources. The significance of the economic potential of eco-villages is determined by their ability to produce ecologically pure (organic) food products and by establishment of environmentally-friendly small-scale enterprises, agricultural diversification and development of alternative non-agrarian businesses. The formation of ecological villages is based on ecological rehabilitation of rural areas and ecologization of principal agricultural sectors. The high environmental literacy and the social activity of citizens in addressing socially significant problems of rural settlements are important social factors in the successful integration of eco-villages as a subject of sustainable territorial development. The economic potential of eco-villages analyzed in the paper can be used by regional and municipal authorities in preparing programs of sustainable territorial development with the purpose of establishing an integrated management system.

agriculture, economic potential of an area, sustainable territorial development, rural settlements, ecological village, social environmental practice, organic food production

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