Sustainable development of rural areas involving rural communities is a complex and timeless research theme, as it is based on
two fundamental parties, which are in close interdependence: the headspring of sustainable resources generating development,
and the rural residents representing both the consumer and the active factors of the development. In this context, this paper
proposes an approach addressing the strategic options for the development and diversification of the rural economy, based on the
principles of environmental protection. In this context, we identified those elements which support the integration of the specific
activities in rural areas (agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, forestry, manufacturing etc.), in order to ensure the diversification of the
rural economy, while maintaining a balance between the need to preserve and promote rural tradition and the impending
modernization of rural life.
The paper highlights a role model to be followed by local factors for setting goals, strategies and measures for sustainable
development and diversification of the rural economy. The purpose of this model is the flattening of economic and social
disparities manifested in the rural area studied. The results obtained by applying this model to the rural location of the Sibiu
Depression shows that territorial specificity based on policies for sustainable development of the rural economy; knowledge
promotion on development opportunities, funding and access to them; encouraging entrepreneurship and efficient use of
endogenous resources by adopting strategies attractiveness lead to sustainable development and diversification of the rural
economy, namely to the diminishing of existing disparities.