Our team recently has started using the 4-Quadrant Action Learning model to co-create locally relevant lessons! 🌱
We joined our colleagues at Tau Camp Botswana to develop a lesson set centred around real challenges facing youth in the community, like limited access to high schools and climate change. We then design our environmental education programme centering practical action to help address these.
Together, we explored how learners can investigate the financial systems and decision-making processes within their communities, and then present their own ideas at community meetings to advocate for eco-club initiatives to be included in local budgets. 🙌
From connection → understanding → action ✨
The 4 quadrant approach is based on research done by:
Shimray, Chong & Sandoval-Rivera, Juan & O’Donoghue, Rob. (2022). Handprints for Change: A
Teacher Education Handbook. Activating Handprint Learning Actions in Primary Schools and Beyond.
Our learners are sharing real solutions to the environmental challenges around them, growing in confidence and finding their voice along the way.
They don’t just see the problems. They are the solutions. Our role is to help them believe it. 💚
📷: @keshvi_nair
“Hlanganani” is a beautiful Shangaan word meaning come together, unite, or meet 🤝
And that’s exactly what we do. Last month, our partners the Lotus Impact Foundation and @ripple_fund inspired another 47 learners from Hlanganani Primary School with lessons and a memorable excursion - which even included a male leopard taking on a warthog!
We have no doubt this partnership will continue to grow from strength to strength.
It’s easy to think conservation starts with protecting animals.
But what I saw here is that it really starts with people.
@lessons.in.conservation , founded by @deancarlisle7 , is doing something really special, bringing conservation education into communities and then following that spark all the way through. Not just lessons, but mentorship, leadership, and real pathways into careers in this space.
What started as an idea to bring just 20 kids into the bush has now reached over 23,500 students across 150+ schools and organizations, creating real access to conservation in a way that actually lasts.
They aren’t just teaching conservation, they’re creating access to it. From early education all the way through to real career opportunities.
It’s collaborative, community-led, and built to last. And being here, you can feel that.
Because if we actually want to protect these wild spaces long term, it has to come from the people who live alongside them every day.
I feel really lucky to have been part of this, even in a small way.
If this resonates with you, I’ve linked a fundraiser in my bio that directly supports this work. Even something small makes a difference here 🤍
#conservationmatters #wildlifeconservation #travelwithpurpose #impactsafari #theSOSA
Protecting our planet starts with helping the next generation understand and connect with nature
🌱🦋☀️
That’s why we support @lessons.in.conservation 🌍
shot by @alieinafrica
#youthempowerment #conservation #conservationeducation #wildlifeconservation #wildlifeplanet
It’s easy to think a trip to Botswana is just about the wildlife… the elephants, the landscapes, the once-in-a-lifetime safari moments.
But it’s so much more than that.
It’s about the people.
The students.
The future of conservation.
Lessons in Conservation is working on the ground in communities across Africa, teaching kids about wildlife, ecosystems, and how their lives are directly connected to the land around them. Through hands-on lessons, game drives, and real-world experiences, they’re helping students not just learn conservation, but actually see it, feel it, and believe they can be part of it.
And it doesn’t stop there.
They identify passionate students and help fund training and career pathways into conservation, creating real opportunities for the next generation to protect these wild places.
Because protecting wildlife starts with empowering the people who live alongside it.
We’ve launched a fundraiser to help expand this work and reach even more students across Southern Africa.
If you’ve ever been inspired by wildlife… this is your chance to give back to it.
🎯 Goal: $6,900
Link in bio to support @lessons.in.conservation
Across Africa, many children grow up living close to national parks, yet rarely have the chance to visit or learn about the wildlife and conservation work happening there.
Organisations like Lessons in Conservation help bridge that gap, connecting young people to the landscapes on their doorstep.
It’s work that truly matters, because these children are the future custodians of these wild places, with the potential to one day protect and shape the reserves within their own communities.
Exposure changes everything.
Bongani’s journey began in our lessons, delivered in partnership with @kevinrichardsonfoundation , and today he stands on the threshold of something extraordinary. He has been selected for an intensive two-month guiding course, an opportunity that brings him one step closer to the future he has always dreamed of.
To help prepare him for this life-changing experience, our CEO and National Manager from Eswatini spent a week by his side in the greater Kruger landscape. Together, they explored the beauty, complexity, and wonder of the natural world, an environment that will soon become not just familiar ground, but his daily office, his passion, and his purpose.
In March, Lessons in Conservation and African Parks hosted an Immersive Experience at Majete Wildlife Reserve.
Following several months of delivering the LiC curriculum in surrounding schools, a small group of highly engaged learners were selected to take part in a 3 day experience within the park.
The programme is designed to go beyond the classroom, giving learners the opportunity to deepen their understanding of conservation through real exposure. Over the three days, they engaged in discussions on conservation challenges, took part in practical activities, and learned directly from conservation professionals working in the park.
By focusing on a smaller group of motivated students, the Immersive Experience allows us to invest more meaningfully in future conservation leaders, supporting the next step in their learning journey.
Thank you to @africanparksnetwork and the @majetewildlifereserve team for their continued partnership and support. 🙌
📷: @mighkamlangira
