As valuable as the underlying ideas behind projects like Beyond Duality by Irene Ramblin and Kasper Benjamin Reimer Bjørkskov are, they suffer from a classic flaw of the academic sphere. The brand name itself is difficult for average people to pronounce or type, the framing is deeply abstract, and the core concepts are rarely translated into everyday life.
The most significant barrier, however, is financial: an eight-week program carries a one-time fee of 295 Euros. For anyone trapped in state welfare systems or facing financial hardship, 295 Euros is completely out of reach. Yet this is precisely the demographic that needs access to tools for unlearning modernity and understanding ecological systems. Creating high-minded frameworks for a privileged academic audience while pricing out the very people struggling under systemic pressure is fundamentally flawed.
The path forward for transformative learning requires adopting a Pay What You Can framework. Diana Osterhage successfully pioneered this approach in Germany through her initiative Wandelkraft. We must break down language barriers, step outside purely Anglophone bubbles, and build bridges that make critical knowledge accessible and affordable for every user.
