Except Integrated Sustainability
Except Integrated Sustainability
We are a collective of experts that realize sustainable business, industry, policy and urban environments.
Multi-disciplinary innovation
With over a dozen specializations at our disposal, we love creating synergies between science, design, nature and systems thinking.
Urban Renaissance
We (re)develop cities, buildings, and regions, into beautiful, healthy and resilient places.
Clarity in complexity
We use systems analysis and route mapping to develop strategies to go from now to a resilient future.
Worldwide experience and network
We rely on a decade of global experience, and partnerships.
Complete sustainability services
We are a one-stop shop for innovation, including energy, urban environments, agriculture, products, industry, and governance.
Fundamental Sustainability Research
We ensure long-term resilience with our full-spectrum Symbiosis in Development (SiD) method.
Software, Websites & Tools
In addition, we develop tools, websites, and software for knowledge management and sustainability analysis.
“Except offers a flexible and complementary team of experts in different fields that together create magic.”
-- Matthieu Leroy
Inter IKEA Systems - Sustainability Specialist
What is Except?

Building the foundations of a sustainable society
We work with  front-running partners to realize  breakthrough sustainable projects for cities, buildings, companies, and industry. We drive systemic long term change with vision and passion, and activate this with integrated strategy, research, design, business modeling, and project management, supported by intense co-creation methods.

What's new?

Latest News
All News
Aug 23, 2021
the Tomorrow Times - August‘21
the Tomorrow Times - August‘21

the Tomorrow Times - August‘21

News about the future today

Jul 29, 2021
(CLOSED) Open position: Industrial Ecologist

(CLOSED) Open position: Industrial Ecologist

Become an integral part of our Research Team

Jul 14, 2021
(CLOSED) Office Assistant

(CLOSED) Office Assistant

2-3 days per week in Utrecht* Asylum seekers and refugees encouraged!

Jun 09, 2021
Orchid City Press Release

Orchid City Press Release

The first self-sustainable city in the world

Jun 08, 2021
Orchid City Public Launch Event

Orchid City Public Launch Event

Join us for the world's first sustainable city blueprint reveal

Apr 08, 2021
(CLOSED) Creative communicator (Senior/Medior)

(CLOSED) Creative communicator (Senior/Medior)

4 days per week in Utrecht*

Jan 12, 2021
A new year message from Except Integrated Sustainability

A new year message from Except Integrated Sustainability

Time for radical transformation

Dec 14, 2020
Wanted: disadvantaged areas for sustainable transformation

Wanted: disadvantaged areas for sustainable transformation

Future Transformers is looking for impoverished grounds, areas and buildings to redevelop into sustainable housing projects.

View all news

What do we do?

Working areas
All Services
Sustainable Places
  • Regions
  • Cities
  • Buildings
Sustainable Organizations
  • Companies
  • Governments
  • Communities
Sustainable Sectors
  • Agriculture
  • Circular Industry
  • Software & Apps
Services
Integrated Project Management
Develop from idea to execution.
Analysis & Strategy
Resilient short and long term action plans.
Concept & Design
Integrated concepts and powerful designs using co-creation.
Business models & Feasibility
Realistic circular business models with true-value integration.
Stakeholder Involvement & Training
Involve parties throughout value chains for support and impact.
Tools & Software
Work faster and smarter with systemic tools, apps and workshops.
View all Services

Meet the Team

Clients & Partners

Some of our partners & clients

Keep in touch

Contact Information

  info@except.nl
+31 30 307 5734
Or choose someone to contact directly here

Contact Hours
Monday-Thursday: 10:00 – 18:00
Friday: Time for reflection

Información en Español

Follow Except_USA on Twitter

Offices & Visiting

Except Integrated Sustainability 
2e Daalsedijk 6A
3551 EJ Utrecht
the Netherlands

Our head office is located in our self-developed center for sustainable entrepreneurship, the Utrecht Community (UCo), a sustainably renovated listed heritage train depot.

Visiting with public transport (recommended)

  • Our office is about 12 minutes walking from Utrecht CS trainstation. Walk through the Noordertunnel for a faster route.
  • Taking the OV bike from Utrecht CS takes about 5 minutes.
  • Bus 120 and 3 also stop near our office. Get out at stop 'Viaduct'. From there it's a 3 minute walk (busplanner). 

Visiting with a car

Our office is easily reachable from any point with the car. There's ample parking space free of charge around the office. 

Newsletters

All our newsletters are written in English.

Understand Sustainability

Gain insight into sustainability opportunities  with our sustainability scanning and mapping tools.

Clarity in Complexity

Systems-thinking and system-mapping boost the performance of companies, policies, and material flows.

Envision Beautiful Realities

Design the world of tomorrow with inspired engineers, architects, scientists and artists.

Embedded Ecosystems

Improve perfomance, food provision, and social functions of our cities with embedded ecosystems.

Using SiD we combine knowledge from different experts and stakeholders to deliver sustainable innovation.

Integrated Sustainability

We provide a full range of sustainability and innovation services for organizations, cities, and industry. We consult, research, design, and manage. Our team includes a wide range of disciplines that thoroughly synchronizes with your ambitions and practical reality.

The results of our work are diverse, ranging from a sustainable sushi menu for a local restaurant to transformation trajectories for cities. What is always the same is our approach; we apply the  Symbiosis in Development (SiD) framework, a comprehensive systems thinking based method that finds the root cause of issues and delivers powerful systemic levers for change.

Using SiD, we find key strategies to realize effective change for less, and new ways to orchestrate the way we live, work, play, eat, produce, and prosper.

Working areas
Sustainable Places
  • Regions
  • Cities
  • Buildings
Sustainable Organizations
  • Companies
  • Governments
  • Communities
Sustainable Sectors
  • Agriculture
  • Circular Industry
  • Software & Apps
Services
Integrated Project Management
Develop projects from idea to execution.
Analysis & Strategy
Develop resilient short and long term action plans with systems analysis.
Concept & Design
Develop integrated concepts and powerful designs using co-creation.
Business models & Feasibility
Realistic circular business models with true-value integration.
Stakeholder Involvement & Training
Involve parties throughout value chains for support and higher impact.
Tools & Software
Work faster and smarter with systemic tools, apps and workshops.

Signature Services

These services are a special selection of our finest ingredients, tailored for specific applications. They combine unparalleled speed, affordability and rigor for sustainability analysis, development, design and strategy.

Integrated Quickscan for Sustainability (IQs)

Boost your Sustainability IQ

The Integrated Quickscan for Sustainability (IQS) provides complete strategic insight into your company’s performance in a single scan.

This enables you to attract the best clients and employees, respond quickly to changes in the market, optimize the use of energy, materials, and water, develop a long term sustainability strategy, and achieve a variety of cost savings.

 

Future-proof buildings

Revolution in renovation

One of the great challenges to achieve long term sustainability consists of converting our existing building stock to a sustainable state. Except combines smart new business models, sustainable renovation and bespoke design for pioneering redevelopment.

Innovation Communities for Sustainability (ICS)

Innovative business models for a dynamic world

Innovation communities (ICs) combine the best of the corporate world with the best of the entrepreneurial spirit. These flexible business models revive urban areas, react quickly to market changes and create new and engaging innovations in all disciplines.

These next generation collaborative workplaces succeed where open offices, flex work or business hubs often fail, and form a strong platform for innovators and entrepreneurs alike.

Island Renaissance (IR)

Enabling resilient and flourishing island communities

Island communities are vulnerable to rapid changes in economy, climate, fuel prices, material supply, and tourism trends. The Island Renaissance (IR) system detects and maps crucial dependencies, identifying opportunities to strengthen the local economy and to realize flourishing island societies.

The integrated approach of IR is based on a proven system that enables resilient, sustainable and beautiful island communities that are prepared for the future.

Urban Renaissance

Sustainable city and neighborhood redevelopment

Urban Renaissance is a redevelopment system that can turn neighborhoods, cities, and regions into beautiful self-sufficient places where people want to live and work. It is a strategic approach that involves all stakeholders in the process from initiation through to living realization.

Urban ReGen Sustainable Cities

Action plans for sustainable and regenerative urban development

The Urban ReGen program delivers redevelopment plans for sustainable cities and neighborhoods, integrating all major sustainability aspects in one program. Its approach works across all social, economic, ecological and physical aspects of a city.  

The approach works for large metropoli,  regional centers and small towns. It delivers each, to their scale and capacity, the power of advanced strategic planning, circular economies, healthy and smart cities, renewable energy, and resilient bio-based economies. 

Sustainable Estates

Bringing your home and estate to life

The world around our homes is changing rapidly. From concerns about energy and water shortage, air pollution, health and safety, to revolutionary developments such as renewable energy and robotics. How prepared is your estate for the future, protecting the health and wellness of your family? How can you realize this in an inspiring and comfortable home?

Sustainable Agriculture

Innovative concepts for sustainable food production

Sustainable food production lies at the nexus of the sustainable development challenge. Land use, water, energy, health, resource use, and biodiversity concerns intersect the requirements for increasing amounts of food the world over. This is affecting our global, national and local economies the world over.  It is therefore a key focus point of Except's work. Since 1999 we have researched, developed, and executed a wide variety of innovative food systems.

Systemic Investments and Funding

Strategies and roadmaps for systemic and transition investments

As the challenges of this century become increasingly clear, so does the understanding that we need to move beyond impact investment. Systemic investments (also called transformational investments) focus on achieving long lasting benefits through the transformation of societal systems. We support organizations in understanding systemic investment and granting pathways, to set out  visions and goals, frame opportunities, and  develop actionable roadmaps towards long lasting change.

Online Sustainability Consulting

Expert advice to guide you through your sustainability challenge

Not every sustainability challenge requires an in-depth analysis or an extensive roadmap. Sometimes, some advice or a quick fix from an expert is adequate. Our online consulting service offers you easy and affordable access to our 20 years of expertise.

Standard Services

These services are the bricks that form the foundation of our integrated approach, and enable multi-disciplinary and focused innovation.

Analysis & Intelligence

Impact Assessment & Sustainability Reporting

Impact Assessment & Sustainability Reporting

How sustainable is your organization? What are the effects of a new policy, or the impact of a product? How can we improve them?

These are central questions we are faced with today. Sustainability is a complex and dynamic issue, for which we develop effective ways to bring clarity and accuracy to the process. While sustainability methods change rapidly, our fundamental approach creates a long lasting, clear and actionable result.

Circular Economy & Systems Mapping

Circular Economy & Systems Mapping

Our world is a dynamic, complex place. Gaining oversight and insight into a situation is often the first step towards a good solution. System maps do this by visually mapping relations of the 'system' that we're a part of. While often useful, system mapping is practically required when trying to work on circular economy, supply chain optimization, and other energy and material flow related challenges. They allow you to grasp complicated industries, policies, or urban developments at a glance.

System maps, when developed in co-creation, can also deliver significant advantages for working group decision making processes, stakeholder involvement and higher management decision making.

Stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholder Engagement

Making the world more sustainable requires cooperation. If you do not want to “go it alone” you will need to involve other stakeholders in your processes. But how do you approach stakeholders? How do you get their attention and their interest? And, how do you get them to co-invest in your ideas and plans?

Except provides support, facilitation and analysis in all phases of stakeholder engagement.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Through targeted CSR consulting, Except helps companies think deeply about how they can best contribute to a healthy, functioning, and sustainable society.

Knowledge Management & Software

Knowledge Management & Software

With rapid software developments in the world, do you have a grasp on software and online technologies? Which applications are indispensable to you and why? How can tomorrow's software empower you, your business or even your society?

Understanding software starts with understanding people. Software needs to be intuitive, flexible, powerful and it needs to enable you. At Except we develop software that contributes to a better performance on system-level.

Online Sustainability Consulting

Online Sustainability Consulting

Not every sustainability challenge requires an in-depth analysis or an extensive roadmap. Sometimes, some advice or a quick fix from an expert is adequate. Our online consulting service offers you easy and affordable access to our 20 years of expertise.

Strategy

Sustainability Strategy Consulting

Sustainability Strategy Consulting

Except develops strategy for visionary clients to get ahead faster, and to realize resilient and succesful business operations. With our full-spectrum analysis method and experience in unraveling complex issues and making them insightful we put you at the wheel of a powerful strategic engine.

We do this by providing global intelligence from our trend analysis, combined with systemic tools that find gaps in existing strategies, discover unexpected savings, analyze stakeholders and with network analysis programs that give a strong, long term backbone to business operation.

Industry & Sector Roadmapping

Industry & Sector Roadmapping

Except functions as the hub and driver of collaborative innovation. By organizing experts, stakeholders, and partners in a tightly orchestrated process, sustainability  becomes a driver for true system-wide innovation.

Regional & Urban Strategy

Regional & Urban Strategy

As our world is changing rapidly, we need to ensure our regions and communities can adapt quickly enough to ensure they can flourish. Except works on strategies and implementation on these cross-disciplinary issues, which include policy, climate adaptation, local economies, marketing, community building and environmental improvement.

Future Visions

Future Visions

What would your city look like if it used the best ideas available today? What would your organization look like? What effect would a policy change bring in the lives of everyone around you?

An inspiring vision brings energy, commitment and dedication. Except has over 10 years of experience in developing inspiring visions of sustainable futures, and we love doing it. In co-creation with your team,  we develop tangible future visions, which cross the divide between ambition and realism.

Tender Support Team

Tender Support Team

The Tender Support Team stands by for any organizations that would like to score high on sustainability and innovation in public tendering projects, procurement, and competitions.  Through a fast, effective process, we can support strategy, innovation, design, impact  monitoring,  and sustainability package components of project applications. this includes components of the circular economy, social programs, environmental impacts, and resilient systemic sustainability.

Design & Development

Architecture & Landscape Design

Architecture & Landscape Design

Except has worked in the field of sustainable architecture since 1999. Our portfolio includes typologies as diverse as private homes, museums, and mixed-use commercial real estate, from strategy and concept to the design of buildings, landscapes and interiors. 

Urban Design & Planning

Urban Design & Planning

Except develops designs and concepts for sustainable cities. With our multi-disciplinary team, we blend economic, cultural, and environmental aspects into the sustainable urban areas of the future.

Business Case Development

Business Case Development

New times call for new business models: Local communities unite to invest together and share services. Governments try to find ways to spend less but have more positive effects. Business is adapting their services to lower environmental footprints and resources use.

We are all looking for new ways to bring value to a world that is fundamentally different from what it was just a decade ago. How can you take advantages of this? How can you organise and optimise this value?

Ecosystem Design

Ecosystem Design

Ecosystems are one of the largest untapped resources to our disposal. By designing and embedding smart ecosystems we can harvest valuable functional uses, increase the performance of buildings and cities, and design more inpsiring environments.

Except develops custom ecosystems for use in urban landscapes, agriculture, buildings and industry. 

Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainable food production lies at the nexus of the sustainable development challenge. Land use, water, energy, health, resource use, and biodiversity concerns intersect the requirements for increasing amounts of food the world over. This is affecting our global, national and local economies the world over.  It is therefore a key focus point of Except's work. Since 1999 we have researched, developed, and executed a wide variety of innovative food systems.

Communication

Communication Strategy

Communication Strategy

Except develops metrics, infographics, visualisations, animations and other tools to help you communicate what is important about your story to the essential stakeholders you want to reach.

Communication strategy is about how to communicate what message to who, at the right time, in the right way. It is about structuring what you want to say so that it comes across in the way you intended it, and so that it has the right effect. The 'right way' may be through images, movies, a game or workshops, or by leaving things out. 

Events & Creative Productions

Events & Creative Productions

Involving other people in your initiative is a crucial step towards a successful outcome. At Except, we know this. Even the most brilliant plans that are created at the drawing table will fail to materialise if you haven’t shared them with the right people at the right time. And: in the right way.

Visualization & Animation

Visualization & Animation

Making an idea, ambition or project come to life with the right imagery is often a key to its success.

Except develops custom imagery, visualization and animation to supports its projects at all stages of development. This can range from sets of atmospheric hand sketches to full blown computer animated movies and presentations.

Training & Masterclasses

Training & Masterclasses

The world is changing rapidly... what about you? You are scanning the horizon looking for smart ways to progress and flourish. But what is the right direction, which solutions really work and which are a dead end? With who do I need to work in order to innovate? How do I combine quick wins with necessary long term investments? How do I create a vision that not only inspires, but also moves people?

It’s not just you asking these questions, but also your clients, partners, and colleagues. Who’s got the answers?

... click to read more

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Our articles

In our daily work we constantly generate new knowledge and insights that we want to share and continue building upon.

These articles contain excursions into new ways of thinking about a sustainable society, as well as tools and reviews. Chime in, and talk with us.

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Useful things

On this page, we share some of the articles, tools, and toys that we use and produce.

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