To what extent are they our experience? To what extent if we are under 18 and to what if we are over?Our first two days where in the very public, crowded main square of Corfu town involving passersby of all sorts; people who had never heard or thought of such things, travelers, unsupervised minors and dogs. Some of these people, not the dogs, joined us for the next three days in the secluded, quiet, lush nature of Casa Lucia. And magic happened.

Spring Academy offers us a chance to create, explore and experience learning as an open sharing of knowledge and skills.

5 days full of workshops, circle-discussions, lectures, performances, film-projections, free time and coming together for people of all ages.

We delved into a wide range of topics such as art, education, ecology, communication, physical and mental exercise  and development.

Together with artists, parents, educators, scientists, children and young people, therapists,  acrobats, writers.

Together we explored:

• How to give equal weight to broad matters of education, concerning: sciences, arts, the natural and urban environment, personality development

• How to act with equal participation of children and young people in all processes that concern them.

• How education can be accessible to individuals of all social and economic backgrounds, in order to protect the right of choice, diversity and self-determination.

We invited individuals and collectives to help shape the structure of the Academy.

We encouraged all ages to act as facilitators and in various languages cultivating multilingualism.

For five days a temporary community flourished.
People from all over Greece travelled to be together, to experience the sense of a community where democratic council without age discrimination is the basic organization tool and where learning is everywhere.

People came and went, some stayed day and night and others wished they could! Workshops, screenings, circles, discussions, projects, performances, being together and playing flowed in abundance.

 We celebrated sharing wisdom and skill in self directed, agile and democratic living.
Coercion habits faded fast and soon we were living the dream.

We remembered deep in our bones that:

• Practice does not follow theory.
• Needs lead to practical solutions which develop a new    theory and open a new exploration field.
• Theory stems from practice. (G. Vlassis)

We sure did revise our educational values and we had a whole load of fun doing it!