The field of research on mathematical modelling has contributed with significant advances to mathematics education research and educational practice over the past decades. This paper focuses on the evolution of this research field based on the experiences of the CERME working groups. Through the selection of some modelling approaches and particular investigations, the kinds of research questions addressed, as well as the processes of transposing modelling from research to practice, are examined. To discuss the foundations and developments of the existing theoretical approaches to modelling, the paper emphasises the epistemological and didactic dimensions of research problems. The ecological view or, more specifically, the analysis of the conditions facilitating and the constraints hindering the long-term dissemination of modelling is addressed to point out the present and future directions of this research field.