Territorial interests of rural youth: experience of the Republic of Tatarstan, Altai krai, and the Republic of Mordovia

Socio-demographic structure of rural settlements is an important human resource for the development of rural areas in the Russian Federation. The presence of a group of children and adolescents in rural areas necessitates the preservation/creation of educational, recreational and leisure infrastructure. Birth rate reduction, in turn, leads to the need to optimize important institutions of socialization. In scientific and public discussions, the main issue of the modern village is its extinction, predetermined by the lack of life prospects for young people. The authors of the paper refute some established stereotypes of public consciousness associated with the development of rural areas in the regions of the Russian Federation. The most important realities of modern Russian rural areas are the high reproductive potential of young rural women (compared to urban women) and the correlation between the number of children in a young rural family and the intention to migrate to the city. The article analyzes the socio-demographic, professional, labor, material, infrastructure, consumer, recreational and educational interests of rural youth in the context of social reproduction in Russian rural areas. The goal of the study is to identify social factors that satisfy the territorial interests of rural youth and affect the intentions of this socio-demographic group to stay in rural areas, as well as the development of proposals to overcome the exclusion of modern rural youth. The results of the sociological research conducted by Russian scientists in Altai Krai, Mordovia, and the author’s research in the Republic of Tatarstan make it possible to identify current trends that characterize the territorial interests of rural youth: age-specific dynamics of migration intentions, family and children in the structure of territorial behavior of rural youth, the conflict of professional and labor interests of young people in rural areas, higher education of rural youth as a driver of rural sustainability, patriotic education of young people. The research interest of the author is focused on the promotion of the resource of patriotic education of young people, which a municipal district has, for the prospective consolidation of young people in rural areas. The authors propose a local strategy to overcome the exclusion of rural youth; the strategy was tested in Drozhzhanovsky Municipal District of the Republic of Tatarstan. The strategy developed by the authors can be integrated into the work of municipal districts of other Russian regions for the purpose of consolidating young people in rural areas.