The Bayou at y.our Doorstep: Integrating Environmental Education in Graphic Design

The role Houston’s waterways play in the community

Natacha Poggio
Associate Professor
University of Houston Downtown

Houston’s vast network of 22 bayous and river systems is central to the city’s identity, influencing both its geography and culture. The University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) sits at the intersection of two key waterways, White Oak and Buffalo Bayous, offering students a direct connection to the natural environment that shapes their urban experience. These bayous, which embody both tranquility and the destructive potential of floods, also highlight the impact of human activity on Houston’s green spaces.

In an introductory graphic design course, students were tasked with visualizing the environmental, emotional, and developmental importance of Houston’s bayous for community well-being. Through this service-learning project, they collected observations and interviewed community members to apply their storytelling and visual design skills to create illustrations that reflect the role Houston’s waterways play in the community, while also addressing the negative effects of pollution.

The project culminated in a public exhibition at Earth Day Houston, in partnership with Discovery Green. With over 31,000 attendees, the displays aimed to raise awareness and educate about the importance of reducing pollution, particularly single-use plastics, as part of a larger goal to achieve a waste-free celebration. UHD Recycling Ambassadors played a significant role in this effort, collecting and sorting 3,800 pounds of garbage, with less than 9% ending up in a landfill.

This case study demonstrates the power of integrating environmental education into design curricula, engaging students in creating relevant real-world solutions through service-learning and empowering community members alongside the students’ learning experience.

This design research is presented at Design Incubation Colloquium 11.2: Annual CAA Conference 2025 (Hybrid) on Friday, February 14, 2025.

Sustainable Design Pedagogy: A Fifteen-Week Case Study of Sustainable and Climate Design Methodology and Outcomes

A look at foundational systems thinking.

Maria Smith Bohannon
Assistant Professor
Oakland University

Graphic design as a profession often perpetuates rampant consumerism through the art of persuasion, which is directly at odds with working toward sustainable and ecological discourse. To explore the possibilities of sustainable capitalism and foundational sustainable and environmental design themes, I developed a special topics course to understand and investigate the designer’s role as a climate design activist and sustainable designer. The emphasis of this course will focus on sustainable design thinking, praxis, and ideation with the investigation of green or recycled materials as part of the prototyping process—both print and digital—all in the pursuit of reimagined design futures. 

 This course study will look at foundational systems thinking from environmental design pioneers, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and how designers can successfully implement sustainable methodologies and utilize environmentally friendly materials to craft sustainable solutions today. By identifying and framing complex problems plaguing the world, we can examine the possibilities and challenges in addressing these issues broadly or within local communities. 

As sustainability and eco-friendly solutions are imperative for future generations’ ability to prosper, sustainable pedagogy must become foundational in graphic design education. By adopting sustainable design pedagogies, educators provide future designers with the tools—and understanding of sustainable design history, process, methodologies, and materials—to question capitalist tendencies and develop sustainable solutions.

This design research was presented at Design Incubation Colloquium 9.2: Annual CAA Conference 2023 (Virtual) on Saturday, February 18, 2023.