Challenges of the capability paradigm in a local adult education system

 In Italy the supply of Lifelong Learning (LLL) is shaped as a system of local services addressed to an unspecified educational demand that is acknowledged by public institutions only in quantitative terms. Thus, the Italian system of Lifelong Learning also lacks legitimation in the public opinion. The present paper presents the case of the Provincia Autonoma of Trento whose particular system of LLL is based on a long tradition of supply and a high degree of internal differentiation; moreover it is highly fragmented and very bureaucratized. The paper draws upon an empirical study2, conducted in 2008, which highlights the main challenges that a modern LLL system would have to face if it aims to develop from an assistance-ritualized approach to an active and personal capability-oriented one.