Strategic Approaches to Sustainable Rural Development by Harnessing Endogenous Resources to Improve Residents’ Quality of Life

The sustainable development of the Romanian countryside follows strategies outlined in the Common Agricultural Policy. This policy aims to ensure the sustainability of agricultural and non-agricultural businesses, improving inhabitants’ quality of life. Achieving sustainable development is the objective of every rural locality in Romania. This is accomplished by determining the state of endogenous resources and identifying potential conservation and sustainable exploitation alternatives by developing relevant strategic options. The purpose of this research is to develop relevant strategic options for the sustainable rural development of Gușoeni Commune, Vâlcea County, by using the case study methodology and involving stakeholders and community members. In this study, we develop an integrated and dynamic model based on information from a secondary analysis of statistical data and the specialized literature, with the help of the PESTEL (political, economic, social, technological, ecological, legislative), SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), problem tree, objective tree, and DFPSIR (drivers, pressure, status, impact, response) diagnostic models.