Rural gobernance and strategic planning for sustainable development: San Francisco indigenous community, Alausí - Ecuador

Abstract

This study aims to analyze indigenous rural governance in community processes of sustainable development from the perspective of strategic planning, in Alausí, Ecuador, in 2023. The research is characterized as descriptive, documentary, and field-based, adopting a mixed methodological approach that encompasses both quantitative and qualitative data collection, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of the topic. Through a hermeneutic paradigm, efforts have been made to interpret the information to reach consensus knowledge. The research identified a weakened governance process characterized by aspects such as: an overload of managerial responsibilities, limited leadership capacity, reactive management by stakeholders to local needs, a scant culture of planning and coordination, and a patriarchal hierarchical leadership structure. These factors constrain the leadership and management process to a reactive stance of stakeholders regarding the expectations and interests of the community inhabitants, lacking commitment and empowerment. This condition underscores the need to overcome old hierarchical patterns through linear and cooperative rural governance processes adapted to the cultural context, through training and development of innovative governance and strategic planning capacities to guide the territory toward sustainable development processes.