The European Union guidelines recognise adult lifelong learning and development of skills as key elements contributing to increased competitiveness and employment prospects, encouraging social inclusion, active citizenship and staff development.

In this framework, INDIRE’s activities, which have always been concerned with adult education, have since 2014 deepened the study of this theme, developing at the same time the European issues of lifelong learning, in synergy with EPALE, and its courses for adults in Italy (cf. http://www.istruzione.it/urp/cpia.shtml).

The main research areas are:

•  Certification of Competences
•  Flexibility of Programmes
• Teaching Methods
• Individualised Training
• Learning Units
• Distance Learning and Agora Classrooms.

The law 107/2015 identified the Institute as the research body that collaborates with the Ministry of Education to “carry out annual monitoring of the routes and the expansion of the educational activities of centers for adult learning and, more generally, on the application of regulation of the decree of the President of the Republic October 29, 2012, n. 263. Upon expiry of three years from the full launch of the new adult education system and on the basis of the monitoring results, adjustments may be made to the said regulation, in accordance with Article 17, paragraph 2 of the Law of 23 August 1988, n. 400. ”

Qualitative monitoring is therefore the specific research activity carried out by Indire, investigating in particular:

• Recognition and certification of students’competences, as required by the organisational framework (Presidential Decree 263)
• Personalisation of the curriculum, (in accordance with the individual training agreement referred to in Article 5, paragraph 1, e)
• Distance Learning and Agora classrooms, active on the national territory
• teaching methods for personalised paths.

In these years INDIRE has supported the Ministry of Education by monitoring the Provincial Centres for Adult Education (CPIA) in collaboration with the Regional School Offices. INDIRE monitors research, experimentation and development activities carried out by the Provincial Centres for Adult Education (CPIA). The research is mainly focused on the system of credits recognition and the personalisation of the curricula.

INDIRE is part of the National Paideia Working Group.