Conducting research in the area of factors of civic solidarity in Russia is determined by current processes of consolidation under conditions of exogenous geopolitical risks and threats, and common strategic course for building responsible society. The study is intended to provide a foundation for the nature and role of socio-psychological well-being of citizens in the actualization of civic solidarity of local communities. The nature of social and psychological well-being as an intangible resource for the development of local communities is defined as a subjective perception of Oneself and Others through cognitive, emotional and activity assessments, constructed under the influence of learned values of spatial and territorial identity, experience of social interaction, objective factors of the surrounding reality. The empirical part of the study is based on the results of expert interviews (N = 45) and online surveys (N = 969) of residents of three subjects of Southern Russia - Krasnodar Territory, the Republic of Adygea and the Republic of Crimea. It is revealed that citizens’ subjective perception of well-being and the possibilities of its increment has a personalistic and pragmatic character. At the same time, military-political tension, which creates significant threats and risks for communities in the South of Russia, has determined transformations in civil assessments and attitudes: a sense of belonging to the fate of fellow villagers / townspeople / fellow citizens involved in conducting a special military operation of Russia, and the direct dependence articulated by experts between individual and collective (national) well-being form the basis of mutual assistance practices.

Introduction. The outflow of young people from rural areas remains one of the key challenges to their sustainable development. Despite the efforts undertaken to overcome negative stereotypes associated with rural life the most enthusiastic and creative part of youth after receiving higher education, as a rule, does not seek to reintegrate into rural communities. The purpose of this study is to identify the perceptions of young people who underwent the primary stages of socialization in rural settlements of the Krasnodar Territory (or in so-called “agrarian” towns) regarding rural problems, development prospects, and their own envisioned role in rural development policy. Research methodology and methods. The research methodology includes: a) In-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with 15 undergraduate students of Kuban State University (Russian Federation), originating from rural municipalities (or “agrarian” towns) and majoring in management-related fields; b) the projective drawing method, applied to a sample of 200 students. Results. Four models of rural development were identified in youth perceptions: the urbanized model (“rural city”), the civilized village model, the naturalistic model (village as nature), and the archaic model (disappearing village). It has been revealed that young people receiving higher education have resource potential for development (primarily resources related to human capital), but their use is hampered by the reluctance of most young people to connect their careers with the village. KEYWORDS Conclusion. The formation of youth agency in the policy of rural development largely depends on the establishment of institutional conditions – including support measures – for their return to rural areas after graduation, as well as on the recognition and activation of youth resource potential by public policy actors through the inclusion of young people in political and administrative practices

The study investigates digital practices of forming contesting solidarity within local communities amid “development conflicts”. The methodological framework is interdisciplinary, drawing on the theory of communicative action and the public sphere, approaches from networked public policy, the concept of “tiny publics”, as well as scholarship on public (political) contestation and symbolic struggle over legitimate agendas. The empirical base consists of transcripts from in-depth semi-structured interviews with civil activists (N = 15) from urban and rural areas of Krasnodar Region, alongside case descriptions from socio-political research. The analysis finds that the digital arenas of local public policy are structurally comprised of a constellation of micro-spaces. Trust-based chats and closed / semi-closed groups serve as “infrastructures of trust”, where the core of solidarity is formed, roles are distributed, resources are accumulated, and coordinated argumentation is developed. Open public platforms (urban and rural public pages, thematic communities, leaders’ accounts) ensure the public visibility of an issue, legitimize demands, and mobilize “sympathizers”, thereby translating local concerns into universalized claims. The study also identifies practices of counter-publicity as a response to institutional pressure: shifting discussions to alternative platforms and creating autonomous channels sustain initiative resilience and prevent its “dissipation”. It is concluded that digital “tiny publics” establish a regime of distributed participation. This regime compensates for the deficit of institutional feedback mechanisms, transforming contesting solidarity into a sustained process of collective representation and legitimate involvement in public policy.

Crisis management and development policy in modern society demand the use of civic solidarity resource – renewable and adaptive intangible asset of civil society. This study aims to characterize features and typologize crisis civic solidarity in its current manifestations in the political space of modern Russia. The theoretical grounds of the research are represented by identity theories, institutional, conflictological, spatial and commu-nicative approaches. It is noted that crisis causes the formation of unique types of civic self-organization. Re-sults of analyzing academic literature and public practice let the author to reveal urgent problems and chal-lenges of the development of Russian society. They are represented as: natural/anthropogenic disasters and cataclysms, socio-cultural divisions, development imbalances and objectively existing “failures of the state”, international political conflicts. The types of solidarity differ in terms of process-based and temporal character-istics (proactive and stabilizing solidarities), communicative and spatial features (mediatized solidarities, soli-darities of direct participation).

This study develops and empirically validates a methodology for transitioning from the diagnosis of rural settlements’ resource profiles to evidence-based scenario selection in development policy. Based on a mixed-methods study of 12 rural settlements in Krasnodar Krai (Russia)—including a survey of 781 residents, expert interviews, focus groups, and statistical data from 2017–2023—we apply PCA, cluster analysis, and regression modelling with interaction effects. The analysis reveals a three-factor structure of intangible resources (institutional potential, social cohesion, and human capital) explaining 78.4% of variance, and reproduces four empirical development models (responsible, stagnant, fragmented, distant) consistent with the previously identified typology (Fisher’s exact test, p < 0.001). Regression modelling demonstrates a significant synergistic (multiplicative) effect of institutional potential and social cohesion (β₄ = 0.324, p < 0.01), increasing explained variance by 17.2% over the additive model. We introduce a Multiplicativity Index for ranking settlements and construct a correspondence matrix linking resource profiles to six development scenarios with targeted management tools. The proposed methodology bridges the gap between diagnosis and design, offering a quantitative framework for differentiated strategic planning based on the synergy of local intangible assets. Given the small sample size (12 settlements), these findings should be regarded as preliminary and exploratory; their generalisability to other regions awaits further validation.