Regenerating the Brownfields: Decision Support for Contaminated Land Professionals.

The assessment of risk from land contamination is a key part of the process of Brownfield development. The issues faced include commercial time and cost pressures, dealing with complex and uncertain data and ensuring compliance with guidance and legislation. In addition to these technical issues the industry is reportedly facing a skills shortage due, at least in part, to an increasing regulatory demand for Brownfield development and the consequential need for the assessment of land contamination. This has highlighted a need for training and support for less experienced practitioners entering the industry. The aim of this EngD research has been to investigate how decisions are made by experts and novices in this complex and uncertain environmental context. The research contained within this portfolio includes four research projects that address this research aim. The first project is an assessment of how experts make decisions regarding risk from land affected by contamination. The second involves the comparison of practical volume estimation methods for estimation of contaminated soil volumes to the assessment by experienced industry professionals. In the third project a prototype Microsoft Excel based tool has been developed to support novices in the combination of qualitative and quantitative data to assess the extent of contamination on a site. The final project investigates the differences in novice and expert views on prescriptive guidance documents for housing developers. The general theme that runs through the research is the comparison of decision making by experienced and novice professionals relating to Brownfield developments affected by contamination. The differences have been demonstrated throughout the projects and used to develop a series of decision support tools for novices. Expertise is associated with specific non technical skills that allow the efficient and appropriate use of judgment. It is hoped that an understanding of the experts approach to a range of decision tasks may inform the development of efficient training and guidance in the industry