This document sets out an action plan for influencing and informing education policy, research and practice in rural southwestern Manitoba. The audience for this action plan is the Westman Superintendents’ Group and its representative school boards. In addition to a rationale for action, the plan also sets out a planning model for decision- making and various options for research or applied research activities for the Group. It also identifies some, but not all, of the factors that the Group need to take into consideration when planning research or applied research activities.