Approaches to estimating the region's socio-cultural potential

The article contains theoretical approaches to defining the notion of socio-cultural potential. It provides classifications of approaches by different authors and analyses the existing methodological tools for estimating the region's socio-cultural potential. A scheme, which includes cultural and social components, has been developed for the detailed analysis of socio-cultural development. The article presents the main results of studying the socio-cultural potential of the Vologda Oblast.