The work presents a retrospective look at a practicebased case study of a municipal

waterawareness campaign that employed children’s drawings as a form of

participatory artivism within a local South African community. Developed and

implemented by a municipal public relations and graphic design team, the project

centred on a the participation of Grade 2 learners, inviting children to visually

represent how they save water in their everyday lives through drawing. Selected

artworks were reproduced as public posters and distributed throughout the

community as part of a waterconservation awareness campaign.

Positioned at the intersection of design, activism, and education, the project

intentionally mobilised children’s creative expression as a catalyst for

intergenerational dialogue. The premise was that children’s excitement and sense of

ownership would go beyond the classroom, engaging parents and caregivers in

conversations around the value and impact of water scarcity, responsibility, and

everyday conservation practices. The project gained significant community traction,

with high participation levels and the involvement of local sponsors, indicating a

collective investment in the issue.

Drawing on theories of participatory design, this paper offers a retrospective

reflection on the campaign as an example of artivism rooted in everyday life and

community participation rather than gallerybased or overtly political contexts.

Particular attention is given to the community as active agents, the role of visual

culture in shaping environmental awareness, and the challenges of sustaining

creative interventions within municipal structures.

While the longterm institutional continuity of the project remains uncertain, and

ethical consideration needs revision and further exploration, the retrospective

presentation argues that its value lies in the activation of dialogue, visibility, and

shared responsibility at a community level.

By foregrounding process over product, this presentation contributes to discussions

on communityled interventions and designled artivism, offering insights into how

modest, lowcost creative strategies can amplify participation and environmental

consciousness.