Cultural Activity as a Factor of Sustainable Development

The degree work on a subject «Cultural activity as a factor of sustainable development of small towns» is devoted to the study of the theoretical and methodological frameworks of sustainable development of small towns, as well as assessing the mutual influence of cultural activities and sustainable development of a small town, using Totma as an example. Well, during the research the following tasks were completed: it was formulated a comprehensive definition of «sustainable development of small towns», was proved a special role of culture in the system of sustainable development of a small city. In addition, there was given some institutional features of the regulation of cultural activities in small cities, as well as the inefficiency of the status of historical settlements are revealed. Moreover, a study of sustainable development of Totma was carried out a list of indicators based on available data of municipal statistics, including the cultural subsystem of a small city; was compiled a methodology of the integral index of sustainable development in small town over the period of 9 years. According to the results of the investigation, the highest values of the composite culture index and integral index of sustainable development of the city of Totma are observed from 2013 to 2015 and fall on the period of project activity in the sphere of culture. In conclusion, were developed recommendations on improving the cultural activities of small cities from a position of sustainability. Keywords: small towns, sustainable development, cultural activity, objects of cultural and historical heritage.