Outdoor learning in a post-conflict context: transforming crisis habitus through critical pedagogy of place

While research on Outdoor Learning (OL) has largely focused on its environmental and emotional benefits in stable and safe contexts, this study examines OL in the post-conflict setting of Bosnia and Herzegovina, marked by ongoing tensions. Its main contribution is the reconceptualization of risk as a didactic and ethical category. Rather than something to be eliminated, risk is understood as a pedagogical resource that enables contested spaces to foster critical thinking and civic learning. Drawing on Critical Pedagogy of Place, the study shows how teachers can move beyond a pedagogy of neutrality and transform crisis habitus into reflective, ethically engaged practice. The article advances a framework for working with contested spaces and underscores the need for institutional support to ensure teachers’ professional and legal security. Through this lens, Outdoor Learning becomes a vehicle for critical, ethical, and civic education, rather than ecological recreation alone.