The aim of the project is to create a new interdisciplinary European Masters programme, intending to make a direct contribution to sustainable rural development, by establishing explicitly the profession of rural animator and by offering the necessary education and competence building as well as the appropriate qualification to consolidate this profession. The end product will be a complete programme of studies at Masters level (EMRA-European Masters Programme for Rural Animators ), which will be managed jointly by the consortium of the project, and will target graduates in humanities/social sciences as well as agronomy, land use planning, geography etc., both mid-career professionals holding a B.A or B.Sc and graduates who just completed their first degree. The expected outputs include: a methodology for delivering a Masters degree by the project leader UMK, built on credit transfer by the other partners, combining e- learning and hands-on experience; a curriculum consisting of a “core“ course and 8 “specialist modules” building on the 8 Thematic Guides produced by Euracademy Association on salient topics of rural development (e.g. rural tourism, ICT, diversification of rural economies, social capital, education/LLL, culture, environmental protection, sustainable agriculture); a library of learning materials to accompany the pedagogical methodology; establishment of an e-learning platform to deliver the courses; an international workshop involving the wider European academic community and policy makers to obtain feedback; and an accreditation and certification Guide detailing the transfer of credits by all partner-universities and the certification regulations of UMK. An international conference will be organised as the main marketing event of EMRA and an Academic Guide will be prepared as a central marketing tool. The project will run for 3 years, involving 8 universities and a European Association specialising in capacity building in rural areas.