Adopting a tool for strategy forming and assessing sustainable regional development

Modern conditions for the socio-economic development of any country or region today are strongly focused on international standards and experience. One of the current trends in the field of socio-economic development is the concept of sustainable development. Each area of the concept (economic, social, environmental) is characterized by certain indicators and indices, by developing which it is possible to quantitatively track the progress of regional development. Despite the large number of methods for assessing the level of sustainable development found in related studies, there is no universal comprehensive tool for assessing the current level and forming a strategy for sustainable regional development. For Russia, taking into account its historical, cultural and geographical characteristics, assessing the level of sustainable development, as well as adopting a subsequent development strategy, becomes complex, since in order for it to be relevant and actual, it must consider the specifics of each subject. Therefore, it is very important, when forming a strategy for sustainable development, to have a complex approach to the assessment of the current level as well, using a tool that combines several methods. A review of modern scientific works on this topic reveled a lack of both a universal approach to assessing the level and a comprehensive tool for forming a strategy for the sustainable regional development. In this article, the authors updated the current diagram of sustainable development in the regions of the Russian Federation. A selected universal set of indicators and indices is presented that can be used to assess and subsequently monitor the level of sustainability of an enterprise, region and country. Elements of the balanced scorecard system adapted to regional specifics were proposed, and a literary analysis of scientific research on existing methods for assessing the level of sustainability and the factors influencing sustainable development was carried out. The authors developed and described a universal tool for forming a sustainable development strategy in the regions of the Russian Federation, taking into account their specifics. The proposed tool can be modified, adapted and used by local authorities in the formation and implementation of state territorial development programs in any region of Russia.