A Word, a Book and a Shelter

The last few years have been challenging and even paralyzing for young design students: in addition to facing a pandemic, they are now witnessing wars and an acute climate crisis. Working with the physicality of matter and crafts, as well as learning to think with Nature, may be a way to escape ideas of catastrophe (Castro, 2020) and to unblock creativity in order to imagine other futures. This paper aims to reflect on a trilogy of pedagogical experiences developed with Communication Design BA students from Lusofona University, in collaboration with the artisan Manuel Ferreira, having the plant fiber bulrush [Schoenoplectus lacustris] and related crafts as a central motto. It was concluded that these pedagogical actions, which involved crafts and the plant world, not only promoted mental health among students (namely through an embodied artistic experience) but also brought greater visibility to bulrush handicrafts, contributing to their livelihood and revitalization.