The Learning Lives project, a four-year study into the learning biographies and trajectories of adults, was conducted by a team of researchers from the universities of Stirling, Exeter, Brighton and Leeds as part of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) of the Economic and Social Research Council, and has just been completed. Whereas much existing research on lifelong learning is characterised by an institutional focus in that it studies learning in institutional settings or in relation to educational policies and practices, the Learning Lives project approached lifelong learning from a different angle. It took a biographical approach, focusing on individual adults and their learning biographies and life trajectories. One of the key findings of the Learning Lives project is that learning "means and does" much more to individuals and to their lives than is acknowledged in national and European policies that focus primarily on the economic function of lifelong learning. The author argues that learning is not only more complex, it is also much more intimately connected with one's sense of self-identity. He says it is important to continue the debate about what counts as good and worthwhile learning and about who is allowed to define what good and worthwhile learning is. By exploring the complexities of learning through the life-course, both from the angle of individuals and their life-stories and learning biographies and through the lens of wider patterns and trajectories, the Learning Lives project has aimed to provide new insights for this important debate.