Food security is a critical issue worldwide, particularly in arid regions, where unfavorable local production conditions mean a dangerous dependency on food imports. In Saudi Arabia, nearly 80% of all food is imported, making the country and others like it extremely vulnerable to shocks and systemic disruptions to the global food system. Industry-changing Serenity Farms offers Saudi Arabia and similar regions a sustainable and profitable way to produce food locally, creating jobs, and using only sunlight and seawater.

Historic sites struggle to find business models that protect and optimize their cultural heritage in a rapidly changing world. The owners of the medieval castle of Sterkenburg in Driebergen decided to take up this challenge, looking for new ways to reignite its economic and social value. They engaged a multidisciplinary group of sustainability experts from Except Integrated Sustainability, who developed a special program to help historic sites unearth their opportunities. The resulting roadmap delivers concrete, immediate cost savings in the short term, and new ways for the castle to play a role in both today’s, and tomorrow’s society.

Serenity Farms is a concept for a sustainable 110ha greenhouse facility for profitable food production in arid climates. The first site is to be located on the west coast of Saudi Arabia, under the vision of the Reza Investment Company. It will be the largest sustainable greenhouse operation in the world. The only water it uses is salt water sourced from the red sea, and is powered entirely by the sun. The core of Serenity Farms is a high tech food production solution that provides fresh fruits and vegetables for 170.000 people.  

In collaboration with KWS-Infra and tender office GAIM, Except organized  an innovation session  for a sustainable approach to the demolition of a part of the Catharijnesingel in the center of Utrecht. The approach reponds to the sustainability goals set by the municipality of Utrecht.

For ReGen Villages, we developed a globally unique masterplan for a self-sustaining housing neighborhood of 203 houses in the Netherlands. Designed on a 25 hectare site in an area called Oosterwold, just 20 minutes from Amsterdam, it exemplifies affordable, regenerative, and self sustaining living. 

Together with partners  Groningen province, the municipality of De Marne, Staatsbosbeheer and Seal Center Pieterburen, Except developed the concept for the World Heritage Center for the Wadden Sea in Lauwersoog. The concept has the ambition to bring 250.000 new visitors to the region, that will experience and become aware of the intrinsic value of the Wadden Sea and the Lauwersmeer.

The center boosts the local economy by generating more visitors and income for the region. It is an international example of sustainability, and its achievements add to its global fame. Following our concept, in 2018 the center was financed with € 29 million and an architectural design was made by Dorte Mandrup. 

Over the course of two co-creations sessions in June and July 2020, the IKEA Foundation Agricultural Livelihoods Team worked with us to identify focused and impactful granting areas through systems thinking. The mapping tools and strategy framework we developed together can support the team with tangible, flexible steps to channel the complexity of agricultural livelihoods into clear, decisive action and impact.

This project aims to reduce the temperatures in the Arctics to prevent massive climate disaster worldwide. It organizes the consortium, action plan, research, technology, finance, and legal framework to  move towards global climate mitigation using autonomous cloud whitening vessels  using salt water vapour. 

Together with the municipality of Roosendaal we worked on a design for a climate-adaptive garden in the center of the city, "Stadstuin van Hasselt". The garden is designed for outdoor education and culture regarding the themes of Water & Climate, Culture & History, and Nature & City Ecology. In the center of the garden lies the Beekdal, which acts as the backbone of the park. This waterway is the lowest point in its direct surroundings and serves as a water reservoir in the case of heavy precipitation. This way it reduces the pressure on the adjacent sewage systems.