The goal of the five-year People, Rules and Organizations for the Protection of Ecosystem Resources (PROSPER) program is to “introduce, operationalize, and refine appropriate models for the community management of forest resources for local self-governance and enterprise development in targeted areas.” That goal is to be achieved through the accomplishment of three major objectives:
- Expanded educational and institutional capacity to improve environmental awareness, NRM, biodiversity conservation, and environmental compliance
- Improved community-based forest management leading to more sustainable practices and reduced threats to biodiversity in target areas.
- Enhanced community-based livelihoods derived from sustainable forest-based and agriculture-based enterprises in target areas.
An important activity under the first objective is to support the development of environmental education content for Liberia’s primary school curriculum. PROSPER’s approach to this activity involves close collaboration with the Ministry of Education (MoE), which is responsible for national curriculum and education standards.
Activity 1.1: Collaboratively support the development and/or modification of primary formal and non-formal curricula to improve knowledge and understanding related to natural resources, their management, and the related responsibilities of government and citizens.
In cooperation with curriculum development specialists identified by the Ministry of Education, PROSPER developed seventy-two lesson plans for grades 1 through 6, covering the four main subject areas – Science, Social Studies, English and Mathematics. The lesson plans include detailed lesson descriptions, lists of resources, learning objectives, key concepts and methodologies for evaluating students’ understanding thereof.