On 5/5, we all had the opportunity to tour Schoonship, a unique community here in Amsterdam built entirely on one of the many canals, or grachts, as the Dutch would call them. The community is unique in that instead of each house being on land they all float in the waters of the canal. This makes use of space that would otherwise go to waste.

Schoonship is deeply committed to sustainability. All of their houses are made of materials that are either 100% biodegradable or recyclable. In addition, they are equipped with solar panels which actually supply more electricity than they produce. This is sustainable because it does not require the use of fossil fuels which would pollute the environment in order to meet their electrical needs. In addition, the Netherlands does not have very much space in land relative to its population, so by making use of space on the water, the community is spatially sustainable because more neighborhoods like this could be built for a long time without running out of land.

To connect Schoonship to Dutch culture, we can look at its history. The canal it was originally built on was originally heavily contaminated with industrial waste beginning with the production of planes during WW2. Schoonship was started partly to help revitalize the area and make it once again useful and lively and pleasant to the Dutch people.