Development of methodology for evaluating sustainable rural development.

The study aimed to develop an effective methodology that allows for an actual assessment of the sustainable development of rural areas in the realities of the modern economy. To achieve the goal of the research, a multi-stage multi-country research project was developed and implemented, tested on the example of rural areas of Serbia, Hungary, and the Russian Federation. The informational basis of the study was the primary information obtained as a result of the field phase of research. The proposed methodology is based on a combination of general scientific and specialized knowledge acquisition methods, including correlation and structural analysis, as well as graphical data representation. The outcome of the research is an author-developed methodology for assessing sustainable development in rural areas, which does not require specialized software and enables monitoring studies of sustainable development at the municipal level. The results of this study will enable municipal and government specialists to objectively evaluate the dynamics of rural area development to ensure their sustainable development in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Additionally, the findings of this research can be valuable to academic researchers, including the formation of prospective directions for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]