Case Studies/Except, Integrated Sustainability
Except, Integrated Sustainability
Creative Commons has proved invaluable in both acquisition of knowledge, research and images, and the creation and sharing of our own designs, reports, and projects. It's not only been the availability of source material that matters, the speed at which material is available is invaluable for large productions with many sources. Except is commited to the free flow of ideas and information sharing, from our open office to our open-source software.” — Tom Bosschaert
Overview
Except is a global company that provides context-specific solutions in research, consulting, and design. Except partners with companies, governments, and NGOs to chart a path towards a sustainable future and figure out the most effective way to get there.
Except creates concepts for the future of cities, industries, policy, and more, developing solutions that have included new business strategies, process and value chain optimizations, software, buildings, products, ecosystem designs, agricultural systems or a series of workshops, to name a few examples. One of Except's most recent projects is a sustainable vision for the social housing area Schiebroek-Zuid in Rotterdam. The project, commissioned by housing corporation Vestia and agricultural research network InnovatieNetwerk provides a flexible and exemplary roadmap for converting the neighborhood into a self-sufficient and sustainable area.
As a first of its kind, the Sustainable Schiebroek-Zuid project provides a template approach to converting a commonly problematic housing typology into a beautiful, equitable and resilient sustainable community. Except hopes that this project will serve as an example for the numerous social housing areas with similar typologies worldwide. The project is available free of charge, under CC licensing, on Except's website.
Motivations
Except supports freedom of information and knowledge sharing. Creative Commons licensing plays an essential role in facilitating Except's commitment to supporting the free and open flow of knowledge and sharing the fruits of their work with others. Work is published under Creative Commons licensing whenever possible, and this is complimented by the use of open source software.
Impact
Except views knowledge-sharing as an integral part of its ultimate goal: creating the foundation for a sustainable future. CC-licensing allows Except to more easily reach people and share ideas across geographic and disciplinary boundaries. Except partners with a range of public and private sector clients, but they aim to spread their solutions, vision-documents, and in-house integrated approach beyond company clients to practitioners and interested parties worldwide.
In addition to aiding Except's commitment to knowledge sharing, CC-licensing also fosters the project process. In the Schiebroek-Zuid project, Except was able to quickly create a database of CC-licensed images for the project vision books. The more CC images Except is able to use, the more time available for research, analysis, and creative ventures -- which in turn Except can then share through Creative Commons licensing.
