Objective: Design and validation of an environmental education policy-making model in the oil and gas processing units of the National Southern Oilfields Company with the aim of improving the environmental literacy and culture of employees.

Methodology: This is an applied-developmental research with a mixed approach (qualitative and quantitative) and exploratory nature. In the qualitative part, semi-structured interviews with 12 experts and content analysis (MAXQDA) were used. In the quantitative part, data from a questionnaire (Likert scale) of 127 managers and experts (cluster sampling) were analyzed using DEMATEL and structural equation modeling (SEM) methods.

Findings: Content analysis led to the extraction of 155 basic codes, 17 organizing themes, and 6 overarching themes (educational needs, quality of education, finance and budget, social, cultural, and monitoring and evaluation). DEMATEL analysis showed that “finance and budget” has the greatest impact and “needs of educational and skill programs” have the greatest impact. The results of the quantitative section also confirmed the validity of the model with excellent validity, reliability and goodness of fit (GOF=0.591).

Conclusion: The proposed model with six main dimensions is valid and applicable. Allocating sufficient financial resources and strengthening an environmentally friendly organizational culture, as key driving factors, can improve the quality of policy-making and help institutionalize a green culture and sustainable development in the oil industry. This model becomes a strategic framework for oil industry managers.