The City Council of Larissa in Greece and the Hellenic Adult Education Association together launched the Learning City Concept at the Adult Education and Local Society Conference, which was was addressed by Peter Jarvis, Peter Mayo and Ted Fleming in June 2015.

The international context of the Greek government discussing the terms of the bailout for Greece with the EU and the IMF also formed the discussions. The Social Democrat government and local authority framed their discourses in a clear statement that democracy was the most important value for the city and the country. This along with an impressive emphasis on citizens (rather than consumers, tax payers, etc) and their roles and rights (to education) informed all discussions. Too often Learning Cities can have a neoliberal dimension emphasising education for skills and economic expansion and development. This was explicitly not the priority in Larissa and the educational needs of citizens was central.

Ted Fleming’s paper introduced the Theory of Transformative Learning and explained not only how the concept of learning might be useful but what it is like in practice – how to teach for critical reflection. In addition, the award winning work on the ways in which the Recognition Theory of Axel Honneth allows Transformative Learning to be reconfigured was discussed.

Each paper was delivered and discussions followed between the 150 delegates and the guest presenters.

Details of Ted Fleming’s paper in the form of speaking notes are featured below: