Sustainability transitions (STs) not only re-shape the worlds around us, they also lead to new ways to inhabit these worlds. The disturbance of habits as a driver for learning is a hallmark of transactional learning theory (Van Poeck et al. 2020; Van Poeck & Östman 2021). However, these changes are not always asked for and may lead to the loss of a territory’s ‘biocultural memory’ (Toledo & Barrera-Bassols 2015) as people are confronted by a ‘coloniality of power’ that steers their learning processes (Kato et al. 2023). The Brazilian case of a Quilombo community affected by the consequences of mining waste demonstrates how the population is forced to re-learn to inhabit their territory. In this paper we investigate how mining disasters lead to various disturbance - habit change patterns, and condition how current education initiatives may tackle these consequences. The energy transition has led to new (geo-)political projects such as the critical raw materials act (European Commission 2023) to ensure access to the earth’s minerals. The International Energy Agency (2021) acknowledges socio-environmental harms due to mining and its geographical concentration in the Global South. Therefore, Arora & Stirling (2023) critique the mining-energy transition as exhibiting a ‘coloniality of power’ through continuing toxic extractive processes. For example, the 2015 collapse of the Fundão dam in Mariana (Minas Gerais, Brasil) spilled 60 million m³ of mining waste along 600 kms of the Rio Doce river basin before reaching the Atlantic Ocean (Milanez & Losekann 2016). The study of a Quilombo (descendants of black maroons) in Espírito Santo showcases how this coastal community suddenly became dependent on bottled water provided by Vale-Samarco, the same company that is responsible for this environmental crime, to meet their basic needs. Furthermore, through its reparations’ fund ‘Renova’, Vale-Samarco became the prime funder of educational initiatives in the territory. Drawing on transactional learning theory, we analyse observations and interviews collected during fieldwork in the Quilombo to identify different learning processes resulting from habit disruptions. The lack of clean water and funds forces the inhabitants to respond within the restricted opportunities offered by outside actors. Conversely, fear of losing their ancestral habits sparked the community to actively promote their territorial identity and use education as a locus of cultural and political resistance. This article empirically illustrates education’s function as both a tool for domination and a practice of freedom in steering how we inhabit our worlds.

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