The Radioecological Observatories have been proposed as a focus for co-ordinated, hypothesis driven research to help answer scientific questions raised within the Strategic Research Agenda.
The four ALLIANCE Radioecological Observatories are radioactively, and in sometimes also chemically, contaminated large-scale field sites. The rationale for the selection of the Radioecology Observatory sites can be found in STAR project Deliverable 2.3.
An aim when proposing the Observatory sites was that they would lead to the development of a pooled, consolidated effort maximising the sharing of data and resources and also prove sites for training and education. This has been realised with joint research initiatives utilising the Observatories being conducted within the COMET, TERRITORIES and CONFIDENCE projects and the ALLIANCE further co-ordinating collaborative research. The Observatories have also been used to focus training activities and scientific workshops.