Sustainable food security is a critical global concern and an urgent priority in developing countries such as Iran. Digital agricultural technologies (DAT) represent significant solutions in this regard, yet their adoptions and development in Iran face limitations. Theoretical studies have underscored the importance of ethical commitments in the adoption process. This study aims to investigate whether ethical commitments regarding food security can influence the intention to adopt digital technologies by farmers. The study employed the Norm Activation Model and integrated two additional components, namely perceived risk and social capital. We applied this framework to examine research works on farmers of Kermanshah Province in the west of Iran, using survey data (sample n = 384). Data analyses were done through structural equation modeling (SEM). Based on the results, the developed Norm Activation Model can be used to predict the adoption intention of DAT by farmers; with the model explaining 65% of total variance. Feeling guilt exhibited the highest direct effect, followed by feeling proud. Furthermore, ethical norms had a direct and indirect impact on intention through the mediating variables of feeling proud and Feeling guilt. The findings of this study contribute to facilitating innovation adoption strategies. It is recommended that, in order to facilitate and stabilize farmers' adoption of innovation, their sense of guilt should first be aroused. After stimulating the farmers' sense of pride toward the adoption; emphasis should be placed on ethical commitments. Ultimately, the introduction of technology and the facilitation of infrastructure should be pursued.

Environmental Literacy (EL) is recognized as a fundamental component in directing individuals' environmental preservation behavior. This descriptive -correlation research was conducted with the main objective of explaining the environmental literacy of ecovillages' students. Data were collected from 175 high school students, selected through census, living in eco-villages in western Iran (n= 175). Findings showed that students' EL was moderate. Three dimensions of EL, including knowledge, attitude, and behavior, were higher in students living in developed Eco-villages than in developing and less developed Eco-villages. Gender, father's job, field of study, and level of Eco-village development had a significant effect on students' EL. However, the effect of educational level and participation in environmental training courses was insignificant. The results of stepwise regressions revealed that the number of years of parents' education religiosity, study hours per week, and satisfaction with living in rural areas explain 49% of the variance of students' environmental literacy.

Agricultural technical and vocational education and training (TVET) for sustainable development is too important to be implemented with no plan and accomplish tangible results in the real world or in the agricultural setting. TVET can be fruitful if it is performed systematically based on proper criteria, competencies, and educational methods. This research aimed to determine the proper criteria, competencies, and educational methods for agricultural TVET for sustainable development using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), Delphi technique, and content analysis of the literature by the PRISMA method in Iran. The results showed that agricultural TVET for sustainable development could be identified within five criteria. A total of 15 competencies were identified as the competencies of agricultural TVET for sustainable development. These competencies should be developed among trainees to achieve sustainable agriculture goals. They can be broadly classified into three categories - learning to know, learning to do, and learning to live together. The competencies in the categories of learning to do and learning to live together had higher weights in achieving sustainable agriculture goals. Finally, four educational methods were identified for training these competencies and their relative weights were determined.

Sustainable development of Agri-tourism is a solution for the optimal use of the tourism industry. But one of the main reasons for the non-implementation of development policies is the lack of necessary mechanisms to identify and analyze the many stakeholders that should be in a participatory process for sustainable management of Agri-tourism development. The present mixed study was conducted with the aim of analyzing the stakeholders of sustainable development of Agri-tourism in the west of Mazandaran Province. In order to identify these stakeholders, the stakeholders’ information was collected from experts in the field of agricultural tourism. After interviewing 17 of them and during four Delphi stages, 25 people were identified as stakeholders of sustainable development of Agri-tourism and using a semi-structured interview with two representatives of each stakeholder group (50 interviews in total), it was determined how to exercise the power of the stakeholders according to the type of their benefit. Based on the results, the main stakeholders in the sustainable development of agricultural tourism were mostly government organization, including the Agriculture Jihad Organization, Cultural Heritage Organization, Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization and Environment Protection Organization, which in terms of five types of legal power, knowledge power, economic power, political power and social power were in a higher position. The proposed classification can be used to create capacity, promote participation and interaction among stakeholders according to the type of power and benefit in the process of sustainable development of Agri-tourism.

AbstractAgritourism can promote socio-cultural values in rural areas by creating new job opportunities, helping to preserve the environment, and reversing rural-urban migration flows. However, studies have shown that this type of tourism in Iran has not yet become acceptable for development. The aim of this research was to identify the barriers to and facilitators of sustainable development of agro-tourism in the west of Mazandaran Province based on an exploratory sequential mixed (qualitative-quantitative) method. First, 21 experts in the field of agritourism were purposefully selected from the quality departments of various organizations through semi-structured interviews. After collecting the necessary information, 120 indicators were extracted by using Conventional Content Analysis (CCA), which were then categorized in 8 socio-cultural, physical-physical, political-legal, management, intellectual infrastructure, communication-advertising, participatory, and marketing dimensions. The statistical population in the quantitative section included 69 rural residents in the western villages of Mazandaran Province, who were selected via a multi-stage method. To analyze the data, force field analysis was done by using SPSSwin20 and Pathmakerver5.5 software. The results showed that the outcomes of the deterrent forces of all the 8 factors were higher than those of the promoters, which revealed infeasibility of the sustainable development of agritourism. For each factor, the strongest facilitator and obstacle were identified and introduced. In conclusion, it should be said that it is necessary to facilitate agritourism development by strengthening the driving forces and removing obstacles to reach the equilibrium point and ultimately sustainability. Extended abstractIntroduction: Agritourism is an activity to attract tourists to an area in order to diversify agricultural activities and receive tourists on farms. Most countries of the world have considered this type of tourism as a new strategy for socio-economic development, revitalization, and reconstruction of rural areas. Agricultural tourism is a value-added product that introduces additional revenues from production lands and farm brands to customers. This is an opportunity to create a loyal consumer basis for all agricultural products. This type of tourism can provide farmers with economic incentives so as to maintain their agricultural lands and the related natural resources. Despite the advantages and benefits of agritourism, it can cause environmental degradation, illegal construction, destruction of wildlife, dispersal of plant species, spread of wastes, and loss of local culture quality in the absence of proper educational promotion among farmers, residents, and tourists. Hence, in their tourism development studies, experts and thinkers from different countries have emphasized the importance and necessity of paying attention to sustainability in the tourism sector. Sustainable tourism development is a type of development, in which the balance of the values and quality of ethics with economic principles and advantages is maintained and efforts are made to replace the balanced development with a purely economical comprehensive development. Studies have shown that agritourism, especially in the west of Mazandaran Province, has not been very prosperous and there are no specific programs and actions for its development to be considered by the relevant organizations and officials. Therefore, this issue was addressed in the present study so as to identify the facilitators of and barriers to this type of sustainable development. Methodology: This research was conducted based on an exploratory sequential mixed (qualitative-quantitative) method. In the first stage, i.e., the qualitative part, the obstacles to and promoters of agricultural tourism development were identified through semi-structured interviews with 21 tourism experts from various organizations. Selection of the experts was done based on a purposeful method. The results of the qualitative part finally led to identifying 50 indicators and 70 deterrents, which were categorized in the 8 socio-cultural, physical-physical, political-legal, managerial, communication-advertising, intellectual infrastructure, participatory, and marketing factors based on their natures in order to conduct the quantitative part of the research by assessing each of the drivers and inhibitors of agritourism development in the form of a questionnaire. The questions were based on a 5-part Likert scale. In this part, a force field analysis was utilized. This method is a technique for identifying and analyzing the forces that affect a problem situation. The statistical population included a small part of rural villagers living in the west of Mazandaran Province. Due to the population dispersion and extent of distribution, a multi-stage method was applied for sampling, through which 69 general villagers were employed to complete the questionnaire. The obtained data were coded, analyzed, and described based on the force field analysis method using SPSSWIN20 and Pathmakerver5.5 software. Results: The following results were achieved for the current situation assessed by the driving and restraining forces related to the 8 mentioned factors affecting agritourism sustainability in the studied area: The highest scores of the physical-physical driving factors and barriers were related to the indices of the region's susceptibility to planning of and investment in agritourism and the tendencies of most people to use the private spaces of their villages in the forms of villas and private gardens, respectively. The highest scores of the political-legal driving factors and deterrents were related to the indices of providing appropriate measures to prevent the change of garden and agricultural land use to residential land use and difficulty in obtaining permits, respectively. The highest scores of management driving factors and deterrents were related to the indices of holding scientific educational workshops, personal meetings, and agricultural conferences and lack of concern for agricultural tourism among city officials, respectively. The highest scores of communication-advertising factors and barriers were related to the indices of timely information for holding agricultural exhibitions and weak advertisement for identifying agritourism capabilities in the region, respectively. The highest scores of the factors promoting and hindering the intellectual infrastructure were related to the indices of academic attention to agriculture and existence of a university unit in the province and lack of indigenous people’s education in the different surrounding regions, respectively. The highest scores of the participatory drivers and deterrents were related to the indices of villagers and indigenous peoples’ participations in the tourist guidance program and weak participation of travel agencies in agricultural tourism, respectively. Finally, the highest scores of marketing drivers and deterrents were related to the indices of tourist demand for agricultural tourism purposes and local organic products and lack of local people and tourists’ knowledge of the market and its capacities, respectively. The results of the obtained scores revealed that out of the 8 factors of promotion and deterrence in the mentioned dimensions, the scores of the deterrents were higher, indicating that the deterrents were stronger in the current situation. In general, agriculture in the current situation in western Mazandaran was associated with more obstacles and greater deterrents. Conclusion: The results demonstrated that the outcome scores of the deterrent forces were higher than those of the driving forces, and thus, the deterrent forces were stronger than the driving forces in the current situation. This indicated that sustainable development of agricultural tourism in the studied area was not possible based on the present driving factors. Therefore, according to the suggestions and solutions presented for each factor in the section of suggestions, it is necessary to strengthen the driving forces and weaken the inhibitors, the end-result of which will be agritourism sustainability. Keywords: sustainable development, agritourism, facilitator, force field analysis References:- Anderson, J. R. (2003). Risk management in rural development: A review of the Rural Development Family. The World Bank’s Rural Development Strategy, 20(3), 4-14.- Altinay, M. & Kashif, H. (2015). Sustainable tourism development: a case study of North. Journal of Annals of Tourism Research, 27(3), 37-52.- Arachi, D. J. (2017). Agri-tourism: Family Style. Cornhusker Economics, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension, 4(2), 1-25.- Baulcomb, J. S. (2003). Management of Change through Force Field Analysis. Journal of Nursing Management, 11(3), 80-275.- Bahatta, K., Itagaki, M., & Ohe, Y. (2019). Determinant Facyors of Farmer's Willingness to Start Agritourism in Rural Nepal. Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, 4(1), 146-167.- Bagi, F. S. & Reeder, R. J. (2012), Factors affecting farmer participation in agritourism. 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Agricultural landscape preferences: Implications for agritourism development. Journal of Travel Research, 3(53), 366-379.- Giaccio, V., Mastronardi. L., Marino, D., Giannelli. A., & Scardera. A. (2018). Do Rural Policies Impact on Tourism Development in Italy? A Case Study of Agritourism Employment and Income Growth from Sustainable Tourism. 10(8). 29-38.- Icoz, O., Pırnar, I., & Gunlu, E. (2010). The Agri-tourism potential of the Aegean region: SWOT analysis and suggestions for improvement. Passion for Hospitality Excellence, 14(3), 25-38.- Kumar, S. (2001). Force field analysis: applications in PRA, PLA notes.London. IIED, 199(36), 17-23.- Kisi, N. A. (2019). Strategic approach to sustainable tourism development using the a'wot hybrid method: A case study of Zonguldak, Turkey. Sustainability, 11(2), 964-983.- Lucha, C., Ferreira, G., Walker, M. A., & Groover, G. E. (2014). A Geographic Analysis of Agritourism in Virginia. Virginia Cooperative Extension, (62), 1-17.- Mahmoodi, M., Chizari, M., Kalantari, K., & Eftekhari, A. R. (2014). The Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) applied to agri-tourism: A case study in coastal provinces of Iran. International Journal of Business Tourism and Applied Sciences, 2(2), 74-82.- Mohd Said, H., Chui Yee, C., & Mei Fung, O. )2012(. A SWOT analysis on agrotourism destination: A case on rural development in a small town Sekinchan Selangor, Malaysia. International Journal of Business and Management Studies, 1(2), 29-43.- Mak, A. H. N. and Chang, R. (2019). The driving and restraining forces for environmental strategy adoption in the hotel industry: A force field analysis approach. Tourism Management, 73, 48-60.- Parkar, P. (2015). Developing agritourism in Ratnagiri District of Konkan (Maharashtra): issues and challenges. Online International Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 5(2), 145-152.- Rietbergen-McCracken, J. and Narayan, D. (1998). 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Background and Objectives: Critical thinking skill is one of the important mental assets that a person needs to be able to develop as an independent individual. Critical thinking skill is important because it assists individuals to analyze situations before taking actions, instead of acting impulsively. The possession of critical thinking skill is important not only to the individual but to those around him or her as well as the society. This is because people who lack critical thinking skills very likely get engaged in actions that are not based on a deep analysis of the situation at hand, and thus expose themselves and others to danger. Therefore, developing critical thinking skills in agricultural technical and vocational students -due to the nature and purpose of their disciplines- is vital to deal with wicked problems in the agricultural sector. Based on this, many efforts have been done to embed critical thinking skills in agricultural students at the technical and vocational schools. However, these attempts have not achieved the desired goals and agricultural sector still faces many challenges. We believe that this is due to the extensive attention allocated to educational issues and as well as micro-environments within the school by researchers who are interested in this field of study; while according to Bandura’s social cognitive theory and Luhmann’s Autopoietic Systems Theory, critical thinking skills are significantly affected by outside school environment and students’ demographic characteristics. Accordingly, the study identified students’ the most important demographic characteristics which affect theirs critical thinking skills.Methods: For the purpose of this study, a quantitative research method was used. The statistical population of the study consisted of Iranian technical and vocational students (N= 5720). Altogether, 282 students were included in the statistical sample using multi-stage stratified sampling method. A researcher-made questionnaire was used for data collection and its reliability and validity were confirmed by content validity ratio (CVR ≥ 0.75) and Coronbach's alpha coefficient (α ≥ 0.71), respectively. The included a help section on how to answer the items, demographic characteristics of the respondents, and latent variables of research (critical thinking skills). Respondents were asked to express their degree of agreement with each item by giving a score from 1 to 10 (minimum agreement = 1 & maximum agreement = 10). Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS software.Findings: Findings showed that there were significant differences between students’ critical thinking skills in relation to critical evaluation of issues and application of theories and ideas to real world context. However, no significant differences were observed in terms of the educational inequality condition of students. Among the demographic characteristics, gender (male of female) and lodging (rural area or city) were not significant ones for students critical thinking skills. In contrast, farming filed experiences significantly led to differences among the students’ critical thinking skills.Conclusion: The findings showed that one of the weaknesses of previous research on students' critical thinking skills was the use of the same tools and indicators to assess critical thinking skills for all disciplines, despite differences in the content and nature of their disciplines. Therefore, based on Calma and Cotronei-Baird’s (2021) research, four skills were identified as critical thinking skills for agricultural students: 1) critical evaluation of issues; 2) development and presentation of arguments; 3) application of theories and ideas to real world context; and 4) synthesis of idea, theories and/or data. Finally, the results of the study indicated that students’ critical thinking skills were not only subject to educational issues or limited to the school environments, but also various demographic characteristics that significantly affected them. Therefore, it is important for the educational planners to consider these characteristics in their planning for developing and enhancing students’ critical thinking skills.

Experts believe that a solution to avoid the inefficiency of university graduates, especially graduates in Agriculture, is to revise the practical courses, especially internships, and transform and amend them. Taking this point into account, this study aimed to design a model for the internship course in the Iranian Agriculture Higher Education using the Delphi technique. The mental basis of this study was Akker’s ten-phase model. The panel was composed of the university professors supervising agriculture internship courses (N=34) and the employers to whom the students referred for passing the course (N=63). The results from the perspective of employers and the university professors, after three Delphi rounds, determined items for ten components of internship courses, i.e., logic, objectives and goals, content, learning activities, the role of trainer, materials, and resources, classification, location, time, evaluation and appraisal, which were used as the basis for the development of an internship model.

This qualitative research was conducted with the aim of investigating the challenges of rural women's environmental literacy extension in Kermanshah province. The study population consisted of experts’ environment, natural resources, agricultural extension and nongovernmental organizations in Kermanshah province. Samples were selected using purposeful and criterion sampling method. Content analysis of data showed that the lack of systematic, comprehensive and appropriate planning with context, the lack of accountability and responsibility for environmental issues, the lack of between and within sections communication, the lack of priority of rural women in environmental education, problems related to the provision of skilled force and adequate funding for education, especially for women's education, inefficient policies and organizational structure and the lack of environmental perspectives has led to the lack of planning and proper implementation of programs and environmental education, especially for women. The results of this study can help planners to improve the level of environmental education for rural women.

Multifunctional Agriculture Development requires an understanding of regional conditions before making any decisions or planning. The purpose of this descriptive survey study was to investigate the status of agriculture in Dehloran Township, Ilam province, based on three functions of multifunctional agriculture: production of food, environmental function and rural function. The population comprised of agricultural experts at Agricultural Jihad Organization and related offices in Dehloran Township (N=25) and farmers (N=5517) from which 365 individuals were selected from five districts of Markazi, Moosian, Dasht abas, Zarin Abad and Meimeh, according to Morgan table and using simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. The data were analyzed using the Prescott-Allen segmentation as well as the prioritization of variables by calculating the critical degree. It can be said that based on Prescott-Allen's agriculture division, Dehloran Township is, on average, multifunctional and agricultural utility of this township is almost undesirable in terms of environmental function and average in rural and productive functions. In terms of production and rural functions, the rural function was better than the production function. According to the results, there were differences between the districts in terms of the three functions. It is necessary that multifunctional agricultural development planners pay particular attention to the variables associated with each function appropriate to each district, especially the critical variables, so that by identifying the resources, facilities, problems, bottlenecks and constraints of each district, they can enhance agricultural functions and facilitate the development of multi-functional agriculture in Dehloran Township.

Conservation of environment as one of the main pillars of human life requires the attention and effort of all people, especially women, and the prerequisite for that is the Environmental Literacy (EL). The purpose of this mixed-method research was to assess rural women's EL level, and identify appropriate methods of EL extension among them. Statistical population of the study consisted of 203,504 rural women (15-64 ages), of whom 384 women were selected as sample using modified stratified random sampling technique. In order to gather the information, a questionnaire was developed including components of environmental attitudes, concerns, knowledge, skills, and behavior. Validity of questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of expert, and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach’s alpha (0.86–0.93). In the qualitative section, the study population consisted of experts in agriculture extension, environment and natural resources, as well as rural women. Samples were selected using purposeful sampling and snowball technique. Results of quantitative section showed that the level of EL of rural women was moderate (M= 61.427, SD= 8.003) and means of environmental knowledge (M= 10.292, SD= 3.293) and concern (M= 11.926, SD= 2.328) were lower than other dimensions. MANOVA analysis also revealed that there were significant differences in level of EL of rural women among townships of Kermanshah Province with different degrees of agricultural development. Rural women in more developed regions had higher environmental knowledge and skills, but their environmental behavior was similar to underdeveloped and developing regions. The results of the qualitative section also indicated that EL extension methods of women in the villages of different regions were almost the same, but the women from the developed villages had higher tendency to participatory extension methods Results from this study could contribute to improvement of environmental program in order to promote EL across the society.

Background and Objectives: Metacognition as an individual's knowledge about how to learn in agricultural higher education centers should be taken into consideration because the familiarity with metacognitive topics and its role in the process of teaching learning in agricultural higher education centers is an attempt on the part of the educators to take an effective step so that they can play an influential role in the effectiveness of the country's agricultural higher education system. The education that is based on metacognition leads to lifelong learning in the learners in a way that cultivating such a trait in agricultural students leads to curiosity, responsibility, and the flourishing of creativity in them. In fact, by using the right methods of learning and studying (metacognition), agricultural learners and students can learn the material that is related to their field of study better and more easily. Methods: The present applied research was a kind of descriptive survey method. The statistical population of the study were the faculty members of Agriculture at Shahid Chamran University (N = 82) and the faculty members of Khuzestan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (N = 85) from which all the information was collected. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire that in the first stage of its design, due to consultation with the research team and based on the theoretical foundations, the most important components of higher education and agriculture were identified. After determining these components, the criteria for each componentwere identified based on the theoretical foundations. The markers were identified during three Delphi stages through conducting interviews with 15 metacognitive experts. The method of selecting experts was in the form of snowballs. In the first stage, based on a review of the theoretical foundations and the viewpoints of the experts (in the form of open-ended questions and interviews), the indicators were identified for the main components related to metacognition. In the second stage of Delphi, a new questionnaire was prepared based on the Likert scale of five sections. After collecting the second stage questionnaires and analyzing the answers, the items with an average of 3.33 and above that were confirmed. The approved items were used to design the third stage questionnaire and to indicate the agreement or the disagreement of the experts. Having done the date analysis, those indicators with which 66% and above were finally approved. Findings: The results showed that the agricultural higher education system of Khuzestan province is in an unsuitable level in terms of all components of metacognition except educational planning and educational environment. Examination of the current situation of agricultural higher education based on the identified indicators showed that in the components of the curiculum, education management and inservice training courses, planning, evaluation, educational environment and teaching based on the amount of one-sample t-test, there is a significant difference between the real value and the assumed value. The course has two criteria of participation and justification that the value of the t-test showed that there is a significant difference between the two real and assumed values. The component of education management and in-service training courses has two criteria of empowerment and justification and the t- test shows a significant difference between the real and the assumed value. The evaluation component has two criteria of participation and performance that the value of the t-test showed that there is a significant difference between the two real and assumed values. The component of the educational environment also has two criteria of motivation, facilitation- interaction in a way that the value of the t-test in all these three criteria shows a significant difference between the amounts of the two real and assumed values. The teaching component has three criteria, namely before teaching, during teaching, and after teaching. The value of the t-test shows a significant difference between the two real and the assumed values. The results of the F-test show that there is a significant difference between at the level of 0.001 between the academic rank of the respondents at the level of 0.005 and between the field of study of the faculty members in terms of performing the tasks that are related to metacognition. Conclusion. In the components of the curriculum, education management and inservice training courses, educational evaluation, instructor or teaching duties, educational planning and learning environment, the current situation is not at an appropriate level. This means that the various indicators of metacognition are not properly observed in these components. Given the importance of these components in agricultural higher education in order to achieve its macro goals and vision, the system should be reviewed and revised based on the indicators that are of significance and priority. It is necessary for the policymakers and planners of agricultural higher education to consider the indicators related to the main components of the system which have been identified in this research in planning and designing the educational programs. The Policymakers and planners are advised to change the educational system in a way that the dominant atmosphere in the classrooms would be participatory and cooperative and the content of the books be adjusted in such a way that critical thinking as a strategy of deep learning can be facilitated. ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS ©2020 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers. =====================================================================================

Correction| February 23 2018 Corrigendum: Water Policy 19 (6), 1143–1159: Designing a model for integrated watershed management in Iran Zahra Athari; Zahra Athari aDepartment of Agricultural Extension and Education, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran Corresponding author. E-mail: z.athari@gmail.com Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Gholamreza Pezeshki Rad; Gholamreza Pezeshki Rad bDepartment of Agricultural Extension and Education, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Enayat Abbasi; Enayat Abbasi bDepartment of Agricultural Extension and Education, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Amirhossein Alibaygi; Amirhossein Alibaygi cDepartment of Agricultural Extension and Education, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Erik Westholm Erik Westholm dDepartment of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Water Policy (2018) 20 (1): 202. https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2017.101 Connected Content Errata: Designing a model for integrated watershed management in Iran Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Cite Icon Cite Permissions Search Site Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll JournalsThis Journal Search Advanced Search Citation Zahra Athari, Gholamreza Pezeshki Rad, Enayat Abbasi, Amirhossein Alibaygi, Erik Westholm; Corrigendum: Water Policy 19 (6), 1143–1159: Designing a model for integrated watershed management in Iran. Water Policy 1 February 2018; 20 (1): 202. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2017.101 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex The author regrets that there were some errors in the author affiliations in the published paper and apologises for any inconvenience caused. The correct details are given above. View Original Article © IWA Publishing 2018 You do not currently have access to this content.

Encouragement of entrepreneurial activities is an important strategy for sustainable economic development. To develop programs that can provide effective support for entrepreneurship, it is important to understand what elements affect the success of entrepreneurs. Many entrepreneurial development programs are designed regardless of urban or rural contexts. This is while the spaces and conditions in rural areas are different from those in urban areas. The aim of this study is to investigate different factors that affect the success of rural and urban entrepreneurs. The study population consisted of two groups of rural and urban entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector. According to the Krejcie and Morgan table, the sample size was determined to be 315. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. The results showed that there is a significant difference between urban and rural entrepreneurs in terms of individual resources, economic resources, political support, socio-cultural support, and resources for success. The entrepreneurs in urban areas benefit from these advantages more than those in rural areas. The results of the regression analysis showed that the variables of economic resources among urban entrepreneurs and socio-cultural support among rural entrepreneurs are the most important factors that affect the success of entrepreneurs.

Social health is essential to social development of rural communities, especially rural women, in order to promote their welfare as well as their human and social capital. The present research was applied in terms of objective, and it was implemented using different approaches to examine the social health of rural women and its determinants in Kermanshah Province, Iran. The research method was descriptive-correlational conducted based on documentary and field method (questionnaire was used as the research instrument). The statistical society consisted of rural women (N=209) of Ghale Shahin County, which is located in the west of Kermanshah Province, out of which 209 women were selected by multistage sampling method. 209 questionnaires were distributed among the  study population, and 187  complete questionnaires were analyzed. Return rate of the questionnaires was equal to 89%. The results showed that the majority of women had a moderate level of social health, communication skills, and social support. It was also found that there was a positive significant correlation between TV watching, the amount of leisure time, the level of communication, and social health of rural women. Results also showed that leisure time, TV watching, and communication skills altogether explained 49 percent of the social health variance of the rural women in the study area. As communication skills and social health of rural women were at the moderate level, and considering the results of the study, it is recommended that organizations in charge of social health of the rural women, such as rural women's social health bases, national youth organization, social affairs deputy of municipality and/or rural development agents as social worker, develop educational content of social health promotion courses with participation of rural women.

Although agriculture has a major role in economy, in general, and employment opportunities for unemployed population, in particular, limited ability of individuals to recognize entrepreneurial opportunities in agriculture has reduced the share of agriculture in employment. Therefore, the enhancement of opportunity recognition skills among individuals in the agriculture sector is believed to solve unemployment challenges. Social capital is a rich source of information that permits the individuals to identify different combinations of the means-ends in the creation of new products or services for a particular market. Thus, this study sought to explore the role of social capital components in agricultural entrepreneurial opportunity recognition in Kermanshah province. The statistical population of this study consisted of all agricultural entrepreneurs in Kermanshah province (N=136), 102 of them were selected as the sample of the study based on Krejcie and Morgan’s sampling table and the use of a proportional stratified sampling method. The main instrument in this study was a questionnaire whose validity was confirmed by a panel of experts; its average variance was extracted, and its discriminant validity and reliability coefficient was established by using a Cronbach's alpha as well as the composite reliability index. Data were analyzed by SPSSV23 and Smart PLS3 softwares. The result of the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) revealed that the social capital components (strong ties and weak ties) were the main predictors of opportunity recognition among agricultural entrepreneurs in Kermanshah province. Findings of this study carry important implications for agricultural policy makers and educators aiming to foster greater inclusion and cohesion, and to increase transparency and accountability, in order to develop the recognition and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities in the process of promoting agricultural entrepreneurship.

Investigating the Role of Personal Turbulence in Entrepreneurial Opportunities Recognition in Agriculture Sector (The Case of Kermanshah Province)

Because of the great importance of the agricultural sector, governments have always tried to provide pervasive insurance programs to help and deliver a secure platform for farmers to produce more and better on the one hand and provide social justice on the other hand; however, rural communities resist acceptance of agricultural insurance. This qualitative research aimed to find problems of agricultural insurance system and prioritize its problems in Kermanshah City from the perspective of insurance experts. The present study was conducted using grounded theory. The study population comprised experts working in the agricultural insurance system in Kermanshah that 25 of them were chosen by theoretical sampling. Data were collected by in-depth interviews and focus group discussions through three methods: open coding, axial, and selective analysis. Finally, 11 problems in the agricultural insurance system were identified. In the second step, the experts ranked these problems using appropriate tests. Based on the findings, lack of job security and policy experts, inappropriate administrators to the level (as the highest priority), problems of credit access, poor services provided by insurance system, incomprehensive insurance laws, using outdated technologies, low levels of institutional partnerships, as well as 5 other problems were detected in the agricultural insurance system.

This study, which designs a model for integrated watershed management in Iran, is based on qualitative research applying a grounded theory methodology. Interviewing was the main tool for gathering data. Using snowball sampling, we chose three categories of informants: (a) academics and experienced natural resource experts, (b) representatives of active environmental non-governmental organizations, and (c) local people. Integrated watershed management was constituted from contextual conditions (i.e., physical conditions of watersheds, infrastructure, and constructed facilities); causative conditions (i.e., management challenges, climatic-environmental factors, and local people's socio-cultural and economic conditions); and intervention conditions (i.e., extension and education, motivation, attitude, and professional ethics factors). Integrated watershed management paves the way for strategies involving holistic and systems thinking, improved credit and financial resources, coordinative and general policymaking, stakeholder participation, and integrated information systems. These strategies result in environmental, economic, and social outputs.

Abstract The main purposes of this descriptive- exploratory research were to survey barriers and identify the best solutions for activating frontiersmen cooperatives in Kermanshah Province. The population included board of directors and managers of the cooperatives (N =115). Eighty-five members using simple random sampling method was chosen by the use of Krejcie & Morgan Table. The main tool for data collection was a questionnaire that its validity was conducted through experts from the cooperative and its reliability was using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Factor analysis was used to elicit the barriers of cooperatives success. Based on results, these barriers are linked to the government, management of cooperatives, situations of education, socio – economic barrier and proficiency. Strategies such as providing suitable infrastructures, increase foreign exchange quota of frontiersmen and more freedom in the import and export are important for the activation of the cooperatives.

Abstract The main purpose of this descriptive correlational research was to analyze the impact of social capital in developing a shared vision for agricultural entrepreneurship improvement. The population included 152 members of cooperatives in Kermanshah Township. A random sampling method was used to select 110 respondents. The main instrument was a questionnaire that Panel of expert method was used to verify its content and face validity. AMOS software was used to test the fitness of data in structural equation modeling. Multivariate Analysis of Variance was utilized to identify the effect of shared vision on social capital. The findings confirmed the significant relationship between shared vision and social capital indicators (including trust, norms, and networks) in development of agricultural entrepreneurship.