NATURAL SYSTEM – HUMAN SYSTEM INTERFUNCTIONALITY SPECIFIC TO RURAL COMMUNITIES. CASE STUDY: AGRO-ECOSYSTEM, ECOLOGICAL VALUES AND BEHAVIOURS

The present paper attempts to identify the determinants of the relation between the natural system and the human system in the rural area from Ţara Haţegului – Retezat. The natural system and the human system from the rural area represent a coupled system, where people interact with the natural elements; understanding the complexity of interactions within this system is mostly important both for people’s welfare and for the sustainability of natural resources. At the same time, the study approaches the relation between the natural and the human systems from the perspective of ecological values and behaviours manifested in the investigated rural communities, in relation to the on-household activities and to other present anthropic activities that can influence the quality of environmental factors. The study uses the quantitative and qualitative analysis, assisted by SPSS and ATLAS Ti software, the main instruments used being the following: questionnaires applied to rural households and in-depth interviews applied to the farmers from Ţara Haţegului rural area.