Extended Abstract Background: Forests are one of the complex ecosystems of natural resources with an important role in the environment and multiple production capacities and functions. The benefit of different human societies from these resources in various forms has various effects and consequences. Without accurate and complete identification of all its stakeholders, logical and acceptable results cannot be achieved in decision-making and policy-making. Therefore, it is essential to fully understand the stakeholders (actors) and their identification criteria in line with basic policies for planning, decision-making, and success in this field. Because decision-making in the MANAGEMENT of forest resources always faces challenges and is often associated with complexity, immutability, and uncertainty due to the multi-purpose nature of the benefits and services of these resources, the difficulty of monetary valuation of ecological services, and the great diversity of the stakeholders of their services. Therefore, the stakeholders in the fields of natural resources and forests are considered vital components, and their presence and activity in these fields are undeniable and provide a guarantee of success in cooperative MANAGEMENT for the protection of forests. The advancement of the sustainable MANAGEMENT goals of natural resources and forests is realized by identifying an active presence of key actors and the most important and effective groups involved, i.e. forest producers and users, along with other identified stakeholders. The primary purpose of identifying those involved is the names of all those who can and should have a role in the planning and MANAGEMENT process, and their identification is an important part of the PARTICIPATORY planning process because it is considered a part of the prerequisite for participation. Therefore, identifying and determining the stakeholders make it possible to take advantage of their cooperation in a planned way in the implementation and MANAGEMENT of forestry projects and to facilitate the implementation process of the programs. Methods: To identify, weight, and prioritize the stakeholders involved in the Hyrcanian forest ecosystem services using multi-criteria decision-making models, the stakeholders involved in the Hyrcanian forest ecosystem services were first identified and gathered based on the review of various studies. Then, the research questionnaire was designed to answer two important questions in this study: a) who are the people involved in Hyrcanian forest areas? and b) what is their priority? Therefore, the beneficiaries of the economy of Hyrcanian forests were identified by designing a questionnaire scored with a Likert scale, designing items with five priority options, and determining the individuals or groups of stakeholders. In this research, the opinions of 50 experts, academics, and experts of the Natural Resources and Watershed MANAGEMENT Organization at the provincial and regional levels were used to identify the beneficiaries of the ecosystem services of Hyrcanian forests. The questionnaire was validated and confirmed by experts, and its reliability was confirmed with a Cronbach's alpha statistic of α = 0.97. The stakeholders of the forest ecosystem services were weighted  with the Step-Wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) method, the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW), and Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS), and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was used to prioritize them. Results: By analyzing the findings of the questionnaire using experts' opinions, the Hyrcanian forest ecosystem goods and services stakeholders were identified in 19 groups and five levels, such as international, national, regional, stakeholders outside the forest, and stakeholders inside the forest. Based on the results of the weighting of the stakeholders using the SWARA technique, the forest dwellers and communities downstream of the forest edge are among the most important Hyrcanian forest ecosystem goods and services stakeholders with the highest weight, and other stakeholders were placed in the next priorities based on the received weight. The prioritization of the stakeholders of the goods and services of the Hyrcanian forest ecosystem in the TOPSIS, ARAS, and SAW models showed similar results in terms of the prioritization of the stakeholders of the surveyed services. Conclusion: The results of stakeholder prioritization models were compared using the slope of the service weight curve (R2) in three models. The slope of the relative closeness curve of the weights in the ARAS model was a descending exponential function with an explanatory degree of 0.93, which indicated an obvious difference between the stakeholders of Hyrcanian forest ecosystem services. The slope of the curve of the relative closeness of the weights is higher and closer to one in the ARAS model than in the other two models from different points of view. Based on this result and the consensus of some experts, the prioritization of stakeholders in the ARAS model is closer to reality. Therefore, the ARAS model was proposed as a suitable model for prioritizing the stakeholders of Hyrcanian forest ecosystem services. According to the results of this model, forest dwellers, downstream communities on the edge of the forest, and the off-site users of the forests are considered the major stakeholders of Hyrcanian forest services. Therefore, the role, presence, and influence of these stakeholders cannot be ignored in the MANAGEMENT of natural resources and the environment, especially in forestry projects, and it is recommended to optimally use the presence of these communities in cooperative forest MANAGEMENT. Furthermore, the human relationship with the natural ecosystem should be at the top of policies and comprehensive MANAGEMENT of forest resources. It is necessary to support wood planting projects through subsidy policies and to grant facilities and low-interest loans to forest dwellers and communities downstream of the forest edge. Other necessary measures include efforts to reduce deprivations and increase the socioeconomic development of the villages on the edge of the forest, holding training entrepreneurship courses and classes, introducing handicrafts and non-wood products, identifying target markets, and strengthening the marketing network for the export of non-wood products to increase the share of the forest in the growth and economic development of rural communities on the edge of the forest. Employment programs should also be developed for local communities in the forest protection sectors.

Importance of farmers' participation in system design and MANAGEMENT has been emphasized in various fields. Motivation is thought as the most important factor affecting farmers' participation in agricultural development programs. Many theories have been postulated in motivation field and abundant research projects accomplished in this area. McMillion's theory was recognized as appropriate for an analysis of farmers' participation in irrigation MANAGEMENT and thus it was used in this study. The research was conducted to determine the factors affecting farmers' motivation for participation in irrigation MANAGEMENT and as well to look for the existing obstacles. The research was of a survey type, carried out at Doroodzan dam irrigation network in Fars province. Multi-stage stratified random sampling was employed to select 270 farmers as the research sample size. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. A panel of experts confirmed the face validity of the instrument, and a pilot study conducted to assess its reliability. Results indicated that among five modes of motivation, ''trading motive" bears the greatest effect on farmers' participation in irrigation MANAGEMENT. Attitude towards Water Authority personnel, attitude toward personnel of Extension and Agricultural Service Center, varied contacts with Extension and Agricultural Service Center, sociability, prevailing attitude towards the performance of the Village Islamic Council, and as well family size had significant correlations with farmers' motivation. The results also indicate, from farmers' perspective, that improportionate water distribution among farms, dissatisfaction with Water Authority operator(s) as well as high water fees and charges were the main problems and obstacles in the way of farmers' participation in irrigation MANAGEMENT. Finally, based on the research findings, applicable and appropriate recommendations towards increasing farmers' participation in irrigation MANAGEMENT are presented.

Local community participation in development programs has a long history and wide range of development agencies have tried to involve people in development plans should. In this context, the main purpose of this study was to assess feasibility of PARTICIPATORY MANAGEMENT of urban parks, in city of Karaj. The study applied a descriptive-survey method of research. The statistical population included all of the people residents of the city of Karaj region in 9 areas. A sample of 203 was selected by the use of Cronbach’s Alpha through simple random sampling method. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. For determining the validity of the questionnaire, the content validity was used. Cronbach's alpha was used to measure reliability of the instrument (0.7>). The results revealed that 6.9 percent of people were not agreed to participate in park MANAGEMENT. In addition, 46 percent of people believed that currently the most important problem in parks MANAGEMENT and maintenance of them. The results of ANOVA revealed that there were not significant difference in participation intention and education; also, the t-test showed that there was not significant difference between men and women in participation intention. Thus, according to officials recommended further investigation to try the field for more participation of people with knowledge and providing more information to provide.

PARTICIPATORY irrigation MANAGEMENT (PIM) and at utmost level irrigation MANAGEMENT transfer (IMT) are processes that have been carried out in the water sector of most countries all around the world for more than two decades. In Iran, such activities have also been carried out in different aspects including mainstreaming of its literature; entering it into the programs, laws, and macro-level policies, the establishment of a few number of Water Users Associations (WUA), and implementing PIM on a limited scale and in some pilot projects in recent years. According to surveys, the process of this issue in the country has been slow, scattered and has faced different problems and challenges. The review of scientific sources and the investigation and analysis carried out for the problem finding regarding the subject in this study indicate that the implementation of the PIM and IMT programs have various issues and challenges in Iran, which important ones are:1) issues of being in charge of the matter, 2) lack of necessary coordination, parallel work and interference of different agencies in each other's affairs 3) absence or lack of necessary determination and will regarding the issue despite its importance and different emphasis in the laws and macro-level documents, 4) the long time passed and the necessity of various changes in the structure of water MANAGEMENT due to the growing crisis of water shortage in the country, 5) centralization and not having or not giving the necessary place to WUA from the aspects of the structure, the description of duties and authorities and their ultimate independence, 6) weaknesses in the empowerment of WUA and necessary facilitations for their formation and sustainability, 7) lack of necessary infrastructures and inconvenience of work from various aspects such as non-volumetric delivery of water, closure and or non-implementation of some related laws and regulations, indecision of the relevant organization in doing their work, and competition of water distribution companies to create WUA and relevant conflict of interest issues, 8) lack of necessary research and field studies regarding the issue, 9) the emergence of new challenges in the objectives of the subject and the introduction of some new terms in the discourse of the definition of WUA, specifically in Iran, such as the introduction of the term “land use” into the topic, i.e., calling it as water and land exploitation associations instead of just WUA, and 10) special issues and challenges in the creation and stability of well or underground water users associations (W-WUA). A lot of time (more than three decades) has passed since the introduction of PIM to the scientific and executive literature on water MANAGEMENT. There is a long pause in its complete and effective implementation in Iran. During this period some new debates in the country's water MANAGEMENT such as creating local water markets, water accounting, water reallocation, etc., have emerged. Moreover, the growing shortage of water resources and the issues of climate change over this period bring the continuation of PIM in the country into a new field and environment. All these necessitate newer studies for revisions in PIM and IMT implementation methods and approaches by taking into account the socio-cultural issues of the regions and on a case-by-case basis.

The role of modern urban MANAGEMENT is crucial for ensuring sustainable development, improving quality of life, and addressing the complex challenges of growing urban populations. The city of Behbahan, due to its immigrant-friendly nature, has experienced significant population growth, leading to increased ethnic and cultural diversity. As observed in many Iranian cities, this ethnic diversity and partisan differences have contributed to the preservation of traditional MANAGEMENT structures. In this regard, various attitudes and beliefs, particularly the low levels of awareness and understanding of the existing MANAGEMENT practices, have created significant obstacles to active citizen participation in urban governance. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the most significant barriers to citizen participation in urban MANAGEMENT in Behbahan. This research is applied in terms of its objective and descriptive-analytical in terms of methodology. The data collection was carried out through library research and field work with a researcher-designed questionnaire as the primary tool. The statistical population of the study consisted of all the residents over the age of 18 in the city of Behbahan. Using Cochran's formula, a sample size of 400 individuals was determined through simple random sampling. The data analysis was conducted using multiple statistical techniques, including Cronbach’s alpha, Kendall’s tau-b and tau-c, Mann-Whitney U test, Pearson, and Spearman’s correlations. The findings of the study indicate that multiple barriers hinder citizen participation in urban MANAGEMENT in Behbahan. The respondents ranked the most significant barriers in a descending order as a lack of awareness and education, ethnic-based discrimination, and the persistence of traditional MANAGEMENT structures. Additionally, unstable attitudes and beliefs, as well as partisan influences, were identified with lesser impacts than the three primary factors.

Rural development in general and rural MANAGEMENT, specifically conceived and designed the process was not coherent. In this respect we can say that Poor people's organizations and the lack of effective integrated support structure and support in rural areas obstacle to rural development has been achieved. Sustainable rural development based on the participation of villagers And MANAGEMENT and to focus public attention to the wide distribution of the gross differences in Iran have been justified And the past is so far no success.Thus, rural development and local MANAGEMENT activities necessary And with the new local MANAGEMENT of the rural villagers Dhyaryha under direct supervision of people's representatives (Islamic councils) and control and public policy (Bkhshdaryha and governors) in the villages of their managerial role So with good practice for sustainable development in rural areas can Dhyaryha step. The present pattern of rural MANAGEMENT with emphasis on local participation in MANAGEMENT and their role in the development process, including physical Dhyaryha-space, green space, immunization, improvement, waste MANAGEMENT, furniture, rural, rural tourism, preservation of social capital, etc., Analysis and practical suggestions in the process of rural development with emphasis on Dhyaryha is presented.

The present study aims to examine the role of organizational information technology strategies in enhancing PARTICIPATORY MANAGEMENT. In terms of purpose, this research is applied, and in terms of method, it is descriptive-correlational. The statistical population of the study consists of 145 managers and IT experts in export-oriented businesses, from which 105 individuals were selected using Cochran's formula and a random sampling method. To collect the requireddata, a researcher-made questionnaire based on a 5-point Likert scale was employed. The content validity of the instrument was confirmed by specialists and experts, and Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability methods were used to assess its reliability. After distributing the questionnaire, the construct validity (outer model), convergent validity (AVE), and discriminant validity of the instrument were evaluated. The AVE value for all variables should be greater than 0. 5. To test the research hypotheses, structural equation modeling was performed using Smart PLS 2 statistical software. The findings of the study indicate that all research hypotheses were confirmed. Accordingly, goal and approach setting, the use of capabilities and resources, and the anticipation of potential opportunities and challenges in IT strategies have a significant impact on enhancing PARTICIPATORY MANAGEMENT.