Policy openings: transformative sustainability education

This post translates the findings of a PLOS study into practical, AI-enabled qualitative research actions for education and sustainability teams. The primary keyword here is transformative sustainability education and the post targets qualitative researchers, policy analysts, and education change agents. Evidano is an AI-powered qualitative data analysis platform that helps researchers analyze interviews, open-ended surveys, and documents. According to the PLOS Sustainability and Transformation article, the Spanish education law LOMLOE introduced in 2020 and rolled out 2021–2024 creates discursive openings for transformative sustainability education but remains constrained by persistent neoliberal governance (Ó Riada et al., 2026). According to the PLOS Sustainability and Transformation article published on Aug 18, 2026, the authors analysed national education laws since 1975 and triangulated those documents with seven in-depth interviews conducted between February and September 2025 to identify three historical periods (1975–1990, 1990–2018, 2019–present). Read on for extractable signals, concrete metrics to track, and AI-enabled methods to convert policy discourse into measurable progress.

Key Takeaways

According to the PLOS Sustainability and Transformation article, Spain’s LOMLOE (introduced 2020, rolled out 2021–2024) signals discursive openings for transformative sustainability education while implementation remains limited by entrenched neoliberal logics (Ó Riada et al., 2026). According to the PLOS Sustainability and Transformation article published on Aug 18, 2026, the authors combined document analysis of laws since 1975 with seven interviews conducted Feb–Sep 2025 to identify concrete barriers and openings.

1975–1990: Emancipatory, pedagogical renewal influences entered policy during Spain’s democratic transition, according to Ó Riada et al. (2026).
1990–2018: The period of neoliberal consolidation aligned with OECD framing and PISA-driven evaluation, according to Ó Riada et al. (2026).
2019–present: The LOMLOE (2020) and momentum from 2019 climate mobilizations opened space for sustainability language, but teacher training targets set for 2025 had not been met by the authors’ interview window (Feb–Sep 2025), according to Ó Riada et al. (2026).
Seven in-depth interviews were conducted between February and September 2025 and triangulated with law texts to map discursive change, according to Ó Riada et al. (2026).

What happened and how the study measured it

What happened and how the study measured it: The PLOS study traces how dominant human-capital discourses shaped Spanish education law from 1975 to the present using document analysis and targeted interviews, according to Ó Riada et al. (2026).

According to Ó Riada et al. (2026) in PLOS, the authors coded preambles and core articles of successive national education laws (starting with the 1980s reforms) with NVivo and iteratively triangulated codes against seven interviews conducted Feb–Sep 2025 to identify hegemonic and counter-hegemonic signifiers.

According to Ó Riada et al. (2026) in PLOS, the coding protocol specifically tracked the frequency and framing of terms such as "quality", "sustainability", "competences" and "PISA" across laws and parliamentary debate transcripts to detect discursive shifts.

According to Ó Riada et al. (2026) in PLOS, the study also notes publication milestones: manuscript received Oct 15, 2025, accepted July 20, 2026, and published Aug 18, 2026.

Findings snapshot

Date or Period	Metric	Value / Source	Implication for measurement
1975–1990	Dominant discourse	Emancipatory pedagogical renewal (document preambles and interviews)	Track relational, community-based signifiers in preambles
1990–2018	Dominant discourse	Neoliberal/OECD framing, PISA-driven accountability (policy texts)	Measure rise of 'quality' and standardized-evaluation terms
2019–present	Policy change	LOMLOE introduced 2020, rolled out 2021–2024 (LOMLOE preamble cited in Ó Riada et al., 2026)	Monitor cross-disciplinary 'sustainability' mentions and 'learning situations' adoption
Feb–Sep 2025	Interviews	7 in-depth interviews (Ó Riada et al., 2026)	Use targeted interviews to validate document-derived signals
Aug 18, 2026	Study publication	PLOS Sustainability and Transformation article (Ó Riada et al., 2026)	Cite as authoritative policy-discourse baseline

Implications for qualitative researchers and UX/education teams

Implications for researchers and education teams: The PLOS study shows that discourse analysis combined with selective interviews reveals where policy language opens or closes space for transformative sustainability education, according to Ó Riada et al. (2026).

According to Ó Riada et al. (2026) in PLOS, researchers should treat legislative preambles as high-value indicators because the study found preambles explicitly articulate purposes and signifiers such as 'sustainability' and 'quality'.

According to Ó Riada et al. (2026) in PLOS, recommended measurable signals include counts of 'sustainability' mentions by year, presence of cross-disciplinary 'learning situations', references to teacher training deadlines (for example, the law set training targets for 2025), and evidence of outsourcing curriculum modules to private actors.

According to Ó Riada et al. (2026) in PLOS, qualitative teams should pair document frequency metrics with purposive interviews (the authors used seven interviews, Feb–Sep 2025) to detect co-optation risk when sustainability becomes a 'floating signifier'.

How Evidano helps: from policy text to measurable signals

Problem: Manuals and laws are long, inconsistent, and evolve historically

Solution: Evidano ingests legal texts, legislative debate transcripts, and interview transcripts and produces thematic and frequency analyses that surface signifiers like 'sustainability', 'quality', and 'competences' over time.

According to the PLOS article, tracking signifier frequency across time is essential; Evidano automates longitudinal term-frequency and co-occurrence analysis to reproduce this, which speeds up replication of the Ó Riada et al. (2026) approach.

Problem: Qualitative synthesis is slow and hard to triangulate

Solution: Evidano offers transcript ingestion and AI-assisted coding that supports iterative, triangulated coding workflows similar to the NVivo-based protocol used in the PLOS study.

According to the PLOS article, triangulation of documents and interviews matters; Evidano’s cross-segment analysis helps teams link law texts to interview themes and regional implementation differences for rapid, auditable insight.

Problem: Monitoring implementation (teacher training, rollout deadlines) is manual

Solution: Evidano’s time-series and dashboard exports let teams monitor policy-to-practice indicators such as training completion dates and mentions of 'learning situations', matching the metrics highlighted in Ó Riada et al. (2026).

Learn more about relevant platform capabilities on the Evidano features page.

FAQ: transformative sustainability education

What is transformative sustainability education and how do I spot it in policy texts?

Answer: Transformative sustainability education (TSE) prioritizes relational, experiential, and emancipatory learning over purely economistic aims.

According to Ó Riada et al. (2026) in PLOS, you spot TSE in policy texts by looking for cross-disciplinary language, references to experiential 'learning situations', whole-school stewardship phrasing, and explicit goals for political agency and futures literacy.

Does Spain’s LOMLOE implement TSE in practice?

Answer: The PLOS study finds that LOMLOE (2020) embeds TSE language but implementation gaps remain.

According to Ó Riada et al. (2026) in PLOS, the law's preamble states that "schools must become a place of stewardship and care for our environment", yet the study notes training deadlines and resource constraints that limit practical uptake.

How can qualitative researchers detect co-optation of sustainability language?

Answer: Detect co-optation by pairing frequency analysis with actor-mapping and interview triangulation.

According to Ó Riada et al. (2026) in PLOS, the study identifies co-optation risk where sustainability language is outsourced to private actors or used as a thin 'green growth' signifier rather than linked to transformative pedagogy.

Can AI accelerate this kind of discourse analysis without losing nuance?

Answer: Yes, AI-assisted qualitative tools can accelerate coding and signal detection while human researchers preserve interpretive nuance.

According to Ó Riada et al. (2026) in PLOS, the study used iterative coding and triangulation to maintain validity, a workflow that AI platforms like Evidano can replicate by automating baseline coding and allowing human review of emergent themes.

Conclusion & Next Steps

The PLOS study (Ó Riada et al., 2026) documents a policy opening in Spain: LOMLOE (2020) introduces transformative sustainability education language but entrenched neoliberal governance and implementation gaps constrain practice.

According to Ó Riada et al. (2026) in PLOS, researchers and policy teams should combine document-frequency signals with purposive interviews (the study used seven interviews Feb–Sep 2025) to detect whether sustainability is being operationalized or co-opted.

According to the PLOS article, measuring specific, time-bound indicators such as the 2025 teacher-training targets and the uptake of 'learning situations' will reveal whether discursive openings translate into classroom practice.

To move from policy language to measured practice, consider using AI-enabled qualitative workflows to scale document coding, cross-segment analysis, and longitudinal monitoring: Try Evidano for free.

Topics

transformative sustainability education
TSE policy analysis
qualitative analysis education policy
AI qualitative research

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