ABSTRACT
This chapter reconstructs processes of collaboration between different stakeholders as they seek to generate technical innovations and a generic management framework for contaminated sites. It aims to show that collaboration and disciplinary differentiation can co-exist in a project without hampering each other, and that indeed their co-occurrence can lead to a dynamic recursive process in which research design can be continually adjusted to address specific problems. Transdisciplinary research starts from tangible, real-world problems. Solutions are devised in collaboration with multiple stakeholders. The programmed structure and the composition of the actors reflect the integrative and transdisciplinary character of the research approach. The SAFIRA II research programme was initiated for the special purpose of developing remediation and revitalization procedures for megasites. In the revitalisation of industrial wasteland, the aim is to decontaminate soil and groundwater in order to facilitate subsequent use.
