This current project was commissioned with a view to promoting and rethinking rural extension, learning and education through government, industry and community groups, so that they respond to new and changing environments and enhance rural learning and practice. It reflects Cooperative Venture members’ concerns about whether current arrangements for supporting rural people and communities are appropriate, given the complexity and dynamism of the operating environment. That the members came together under this banner is testimony to the commonality of concerns and the inherent difficulties. The Venture has embarked on a study of a field in transition—a field in which traditional ideas related to extension and adult education are giving way to new ones and where there is much uncertainty about the best way forward.