This special issue of the International Journal of Ageing in Developing Countries (IJADC) focusses on learning in later life (also known as educational gerontology). As guest editor for this issue, I am hopeful that this divergent compilation of articles will provide the stimulus for further insights into what is happening in developing countries for older people in respective societies. Over the last decade there has been much more attention given to how learning and education can provide the basis for more ‘active ageing’ and ‘successful’ lives. Both learning and living are inextricably connected. This issue expands on some of these emergent perspectives.