The curriculum, based on Wiland-Bell Production’s four-hour PBS documentary series, Edens Lost and Found, is being created in partnership with the Illinois Sustainable Education Project (ISTEP) and will be used in Illinois high schools.

ISTEP, an education program of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, has pledged $175,000 toward the project. This initiative represents the kind of partnership that the Media & Policy Center Foundation hopes to replicate throughout the country, and the organization hopes other states will follow Illinois's example.

“We couldn’t be happier to have forged this relationship with ISTEP,” said Harry Wiland, Co-President and CEO of the Media & Policy Center Foundation. “It represents not only an opportunity to share our creative vision with young people, but also a new direction in documentary filmmaking that provides ongoing education beyond the life of the production itself. ISTEP is a part of this new trend. Illinois is a forward-thinking state and what’s more, they believe this kind of initiative is good business. Good sound environmental education lays the groundwork for smart and responsible economic planning.”

The curriculum will be based on topics raised in the PBS documentary series Edens Lost and Found, which examines how four cities—Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Seattle—use cutting-edge strategies to revitalize their urban landscapes and improve city life for all their inhabitants. This integrated planning, combined with local community support, tackles topics including open spaces and public parks, urban forestry, alternative fuels, watershed management, public art, waste disposal, recycling, green architecture, mass transit and more. These subjects are the foundation for the curriculum.

“This curriculum will not only be about environmental studies,” explains DCEO Director Jack Lavin, “it will foster critical thinking abilities, build multi-disciplinary problem solving skills and develop the students’ capacity for decision-making as both individuals and as part of a larger community. We feel it’s a unique opportunity to motivate students and teachers with such a highly visible and prestigious television production.”

The Edens Lost and Found curriculum will use the topics explored in the documentary to present lesson plans in accordance with national academic standards for science and social studies, as well as cross-curricular tie-ins with other subjects including math and language arts.

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The ISTEP funding grant will also be used to host Town Hall meetings in various Illinois locations to discuss the issues raised and how they affect the lives of the people in the community. It is expected that some of the town hall meetings will be televised by local and regional PBS stations.

“Sustainability and environmental studies are no longer the domain of special interest groups,” Wiland asserts. “These principles are being embraced and employed by politicians, city planners and engineers who are retooling our cities and towns for the 21st century. Local citizen and student involvement play a key role in this evolutionary process. The documentary outreach project and curriculum provide first-hand access to this burgeoning movement which holds the promise of not only improved communities and public health, but future employment and responsible economic development.”

Edens Lost and Found will air in spring and fall, 2006, on PBS stations nationwide and will be rebroadcast five times over the next four years. A multimedia project with an extensive resource-rich web site, e-newsletter, community action guides, community-based and national outreach, and companion book, Edens Lost and Found will make its DVD available for purchase through its website, PBS and other outlets.

Wiland-Bell Productions www.wilandbellprod.com is a multiple award-winning media production company, specializing in the design and implementation of socially relevant projects in an entertaining and enlightening context. It is based in Santa Monica, CA.