RELANZA – Redefining language education: SDGs and innovative teaching strategies

RELANZA - Redefining language education: SDGs and innovative teaching strategies

By Dra. Mercedes Querol-Julián (AESLA/BAAL)

How can language education contribute to building more sustainable, inclusive and socially responsible societies? RELANZA project (Redefining language education: SDGs and innovative teaching strategies) was created to explore this question. Funded by Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR, Spain) and coordinated by Mercedes Querol-Julián, the project has been developed by the PRODIGI (Personal and Professional Development through Digital Genres) research group in collaboration with the BAAL Language Curriculum SIG. Bringing together scholars from Spain and the United Kingdom, it involves researchers from UNIR, Universitat Jaume I, The University of Edinburgh and the University of Strathclyde, with dissemination support from Instituto Cervantes and FAAPI (Federación Argentina de Asociaciones de Profesores de Inglés).

Rather than treating sustainability as an additional topic to be incorporated into language lessons, RELANZA invites educators to reconsider the broader purposes of language education. The project highlights the potential of language learning to foster critical citizenship, intercultural understanding, equity and social responsibility, while aligning with the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, particularly SDG 4: Quality Education.

A distinctive aspect of the project is its emphasis on linguistic diversity as a sustainability issue. RELANZA argues that languages represent different ways of understanding and engaging with the world and that language education can play a vital role in promoting more inclusive and equitable educational practices. From this perspective, sustainability is viewed as a guiding principle for curriculum design, teacher education and classroom practice.

To support educators in different contexts and languages, RELANZA has produced a range of open-access resources in English and Spanish. These include a podcast series featuring international experts, practical guides accompanying each episode, and interactive online materials designed to encourage reflection and adaptation to local educational realities. Together, these resources aim to bridge research and practice while providing concrete opportunities for professional learning.

The six podcast episodes feature interviews conducted by Darío Banegas with leading scholars on themes shaping contemporary language education:

• Digitalisation in the language curriculum (Fernando Trujillo Sáez)
• Artificial intelligence in the language curriculum (Victor Lim)
• Multimodal literacy in the language curriculum (Noelia Ruiz-Madrid)
• Internationalisation in the language curriculum (Emma Dafouz)
• Sustainable development in the language curriculum (Paul Meighan)
• Social justice in the language curriculum (Deniz Ortaçtepe Hart)

An innovative aspect of the project is its use of AI-assisted voice cloning and dubbing technologies, combined with extensive human review and post-production of the podcast. Through this approach, RELANZA explores how emerging technologies can support wider access to educational knowledge while maintaining ethical standards and human oversight.

The project’s activities have extended beyond the podcast itself, the practical guide and the interactive online materials. Launch webinars held in November 2025 brought together participants from different educational settings to discuss artificial intelligence and language education (“Language teaching in the GenAI-age: The professional GenAI competence framework” by Benjamim Moorhouse, and “Hacia un uso crítico de la IA en el aprendizaje de lenguas“ by Pascual Pérez Paredes), while the closing webinars in June 2026 focused particularly on social justice, a topic that attracted strong interest among RELANZA followers (“Teaching for social justice: Critical literacy and language teaching materials” by Deniz Ortaçtepe Hart, “Enseñanza de lenguas y justicia social: Reflexiones y propuestas” by Mara Fuertes Gutiérrez). In addition, a series of newsletters has documented insights emerging from the interviews and events, helping to sustain dialogue around the project's central themes.

Beyond its educational resources, RELANZA has contributed to broader public discussions on the role of AI in knowledge dissemination. The article “La IA ahora puede hablar con tu voz, pero ¿sigue siendo tu mensaje?” reflects on the project's use of GenAI voice-cloning technologies, examining both their potential and their limitations. Based on testimonies from project participants and the technician involved in the production process, the article considers questions of authenticity, accessibility and responsible AI use.

By combining research, technology and practitioner-oriented resources, RELANZA contributes to ongoing discussions about the future of language education. Its work demonstrates how language curricula can engage with pressing global concerns while supporting more reflective, inclusive and socially responsive educational practices.

More information and all project resources are available at: https://relanza.net/en/ and https://zenodo.org/communities/relanza/