Cooperation, sharing, and competence are the key ideas in the Victorian Country Education Project, a pilot project to be conducted in a limited number of rural areas in Australia in an effort to overcome problems peculiar to rural schools and communities and to search for new ways to provide those schools and communities with improved educational experiences at reasonable cost. The Project's basic philosophy is that all schools and local communities within a given area should cooperate in the development and implementation of programs which will allow the sharing of local resources and competencies to meet the area's assessed needs. Development of country programs should occur in two stages. Stage I includes selection of an area Project Committee and coordinator, and assessment of area needs and resources. Stage II includes development of area programs based on prioritized needs, submission of the programs to the Planning Committee, implementation, and resources control. Careful evaluation of the process and programs, which will be the basis for future strategies for rural education and will develop local skills, should be conducted continuously by the Project Committee and outside parties (if desired). The booklet contains guidelines for the preparation of program submissions and for program evaluations. (SB)