STRATEGIC ORIENTATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL TERRITORIES
Authors:   State Institution of Higher Education «Uzhhorod National University», Hazuda Lesya 
Published: October 2023

The article is devoted to the study of the peculiarities of the functioning of rural territories. Their important role in the development of the national economy of Ukraine and its regions is outlined, which is primarily related to ensuring the country's food security and the production of ecologically clean (organic) food products. The author substantiates an integrated approach to the use of influence factors, in particular, natural resource, socio-ecological, economic, and human potential, which are interde-pendent and complementary and are aimed at ensuring a balanced development of rural territories and efficient agricultural management. It has been found that, in addition to the mentioned factors, an im-portant role is played by infrastructural support, the geographical location of rural areas, that is, their proximity to the borders with the member states of the European Union. It has been proven that, the implementation of an integrated approach to ensuring the balanced development of rural territories will help to overcome, and possibly level the differentiation in the development of local areas at both the regional and national levels. Attention is focused on the need to outline strategic prospects for the de-velopment of rural territories for a long-term period. However, nowadays, in the context of unpredicta-ble events and external influences, first of all, the state of war, there is a need to distinguish conceptual approaches to ensuring the balanced development of rural areas in accordance with the formed devel-opment strategy, but with the possibility of adjusting its individual aspects in real time. The process of forming an effective socio-bio-ecological-economic system within the framework of rural development needs to be intensified, which in the context of decentralization should include approaches to overcoming the differentiation of territorial and spatial development, taking into account the specifics and characteristics of individual regions. There is a need for interaction between the au-thorities, the community and interested persons with the possibility for the latter to independently make important decisions at the local level, i.e. within the bounds of the United Territorial Communities (UTCs), where each member of the community can make their own proposals for solving problematic issues of rural development. Attention is focused on the actualization of strategic approaches to ensuring balanced rural de-velopment, among which the management component, diversification of the rural economy, the for-mation of an optimal rural settlement network and improving the reproducibility of the population, so-cial protection of the rural population, improving living conditions and the quality of life of rural residents, improving their well-being are important and well-being, transport accessibility to peripheral areas, increasing the level of employment, in particular self-employment of the rural population in priority types of economic activity with the possibility of forming co-branding alliances.