︎ Home | About | Publications

Sustainable Design

with Terreform ONE and HE³AT
2023-2025

Course + Program

Sustainable Design is a 9-month educational curriculum designed and disseminated in collaboration with Terreform ONE and the New York City Department of Education.

Developed and taught across 2 academic school years, Sustainable Design equips high school students with design thinking skills that enable them to better understand, research towards and design system solutions that respond to a localized environmental challenge.

About Terreform ONE: Terreform ONE is a 501c3 nonprofit art, architecture, and urban design research group endeavoring to combat the extinction of all planetary species through pioneering design acts. Terreform ONE projects also aim to illuminate the environmental possibilities of habitats, cities, and landscapes across the globe.

About HE³AT: HE³AT is a program facilitated by the New York City Department of Education that serves 45 NYC Public School districts throughout the 5 Brooklyn boroughs. HE³AT aims to empower students to achieve intergenerational economic mobility that integrates place-based learning with meaningful work-based experiences by leveraging corporate social responsibility and partnerships with leaders across health, environment, agricultural and technology industries.

Syllabus Introduction

How can we use systems design thinking to respond to an environmental challenge?

Throughout the year, students will learn key environmental concepts related to climate change and sustainability concerns while situating these concepts within a regional case-study. Students will also learn how to use a systems design thinking framework with design thinking processes to design a final project proposal that responds to an environmental challenge related to one of the four topics below:

- Sustainable Agriculture
- Sustainable Buildings, Homes & Spaces
- Sustainable Circular Economies
- Sustainable Transportation

Students will expand their environmental leadership and collaboration skills by participating in workshops that improve their research, public speaking, storytelling and teamwork capacities. Students will also gain hands-on technical design skills including but not limited to Canva, Figma, modeling/sketching, prototyping with AI and bioplastic and other sustainable material making practices. Finally, students will gain professional development skills by attending an array of out-of-classroom site visits to garner the various perspectives of working professionals within intersecting environmental and design fields.

The final project will culminate into a final group presentation that outlines their research and design process, a digital collage prototype of their final design solution, a 2-3 page research paper and final public speaking presentation in the June 2025 competition showcase at Brooklyn Borough Hall.