Methodology for the Diagnosis of Sustainable Development in Rural Areas of Colombia Through a Simulated Model

Abstract

Public policies for the development of rural areas have been ineffective, since they do not fully respond to the particular needs and dynamics of these territories in Colombia. It is important to carry out diagnoses aimed at rural territories, since they provide clear knowledge of their current conditions. A diagnostic model of sustainable development in rural areas of Colombia is presented, which starts by defining the variables of sustainable development, then it is represented by a causal model that allows integration through fuzzy logic with the continuous simulation model, carried out with VBA (Visual Basic for Application). The importance values of the dimensions of sustainable development are determined, that is, how much economic, productive, environmental and social development weighs respectively. Likewise, the four output variables that correspond to the individual qualifications of the economic, social, productive and environmental dimensions are obtained. From this, the integral qualification of SustainableDevelopment for the 98 rural municipalities of Colombia is defined.