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Sustainability is a choice. Or rather, it was a choice. It is more of a necessity at this point. 

As society is cutting it close, the need is so urgent that it can’t be restricted to one particular aspect of life anymore. Climate change, natural resource depletion and land overuse are just some of the many challenges that could benefit from a nature-friendly outlook on how we can organize our day-to-day lives and the industries that we depend on.

Sustainability is something that is deeply ingrained in the DNA and vision of the organization under the spotlight today - Witteveen+Bos

Witteveen+Bos (W+B) is a Dutch engineering & consulting firm that is all about creating eco-friendly solutions for their clients and as a result for the world at large.

Keep reading to know all about their efforts behind creating a better, cleaner, safer Earth for us. 

Witteveen+Bos: Creating a better Earth

They say your work is your contribution to the world. 

And as an engineering firm, W+B’s actions have ripple effects on society as a whole. Together, along with their clients and stakeholders, they are committed to creating a better living environment for today and tomorrow.

As mentioned earlier, humanity is cutting it too close in terms of testing the limits of nature. More than just a flashy, one-off solution, a more committed and visionary approach is needed to drive true change. 

Witteveen+Bos, with its commitment to the sustainable development goals, has identified the following 4 aspects that have the potential to drive long lasting change. The majority of their time, energy and resources are focussed on the below verticals. 

• Built Environment - With pressure on cities increasing, finding the right balance between expansion, technology and sustainability is key. W+B has been critical in the creation of smart cities (and a smart future as a result)
  
• Deltas, Coasts and Rivers - This is an area that solely focuses on environment management through exciting new concepts such as ‘building with nature’. The Dutch company is working towards building safe water-rich environments, for all life forms to exists equally
  
• Energy, Water and Environment - Water management is of utmost importance in today’s day and age. W+B is involved in several projects worldwide that deal with wastewater and drinking water issues. The firm also works towards creating a circular economy by being involved in several energy transition projects.
  
• Infrastructure and Mobility- The engineering firm partners with countless agencies, universities and institutes to create future-proof solutions that help build a more connected world whilst always having one eye towards the environment. 

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The mission is quite simple; focus on a sustainable way of doing things, right from the start and until the very end. All the details add up to create a conducive environment for today’s generation and the next. 

In the next section we’re going to look at real projects and use cases where the above principles have been applied.

Witteveen + Bos: Key Projects and Use Cases

What good are words if you don’t follow it up with actions, right?

The vision, culture and futuristic outlook of Witteveen+Bos is nicely captured by some of the these unique projects that they have undertaken -

• Bio-based bicycle bridge - Witteveen+Bos was part of the planning team that designed the world’s first bio-based bicycle bridge that boasts a whopping 80% natural composition. The 66 meter long bridge is expected to be functional for 50 years and is an important step towards sustainability.
  
• 3D printed houses - Witteveen+Bos was instrumental in designing and developing 3D printed houses in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. The project was a trendsetter in the construction industry as it brought with it a level of sustainability, speed and affordability that was missing in the past.

• The Marker Wadden project - Witteveen+Bos’s ecology and hydraulic engineering experts are currently working on creating a bird haven in Marker Wadden. The project is focussed on creating an archipelago of islands that will improve the overall ecological balance of the site.

As you can tell, most of W+B’s projects are multidisciplinary and multi stakeholder projects that involve the management, use and exchange of countless data. The success and failure of their endeavors often depends upon the speed and intelligence of their execution.

Enter Ellipsis Drive!

Ellipsis Drive: A Collaborative Mapping Solution

Civil engineering firms, due to the nature of their work, can be a bit of a figure of inefficiency and long turnaround times. Countless reasons can be attributed to this fact, and needing to work with a myriad of complex spatial data that are difficult to find, process and use is a primary culprit. Spatial data management is hard. It’s as simple as that (or rather, it’s not!).

As an organization that admires and appreciates data driven processes (however hard that may sometimes be), Ellipsis Drive was keen on adding value to W+B’s mission by making this easier. Ellipsis Drive became a fit into Wittenveen+Bos’s operations by offering a collaborative mapping environment for their interdisciplinary team. Helping them manage, visualize, and collaborate on spatial data using the tools of their choice. 

Ellipsis Drive allows for simultaneous access via multiple endpoints, ranging from OGC protocols for GIS professionals and packages for data scientists, all the way to a simple web viewer for other domain experts and clients. Considering the fact that engineering work involves countless stakeholders, with varied levels of technical know-how and preferences, this interoperability is a necessity.

Final Thoughts

With this new alliance, Wittenveen+Bos’s teams can easily share spatial insights, collaborate amongst each other and continue to fight the good fight. They do what they do best (create a better tomorrow), and we do what we do best (help such organizations with their cause in all the ways we know how).

The perfect chemistry, the perfect synergy, that’s sustainability!