...
Megasites
...
from
...
different
...
points
...
of
...
view
...
The
...
WELCOME
...
IMS
...
has
...
been
...
developed
...
using
...
knowledge/information
...
fields
...
and
...
experience
...
from
...
several
...
scientific
...
disciplines.
...
First of all,
...
the
...
IMS
...
facilitates
...
the
...
construction
...
of
...
environmental
...
site
...
management
...
plans
...
within
...
national
...
and
...
European
...
legal
...
frameworks.
...
An
...
overview
...
of
...
these
...
is
...
given
...
(updated
...
until
...
end
...
of
...
the
...
projecct:
...
2009).
...
For
...
the
...
European
...
framework,
...
the
...
Water
...
Framework
...
and
...
Groundwater
...
Directives
...
are
...
the
...
most
...
important.
...
Secondly,
...
a
...
description
...
of
...
the
...
system
...
approach
...
is
...
given
...
(referring
...
to
...
System
...
Theory),
...
i.e.
...
for
...
the
...
physical
...
system
...
of
...
the
...
megasite
...
and
...
the
...
social
...
system
...
(including
...
stakeholders
...
that
...
are
...
crucial
...
in
...
decision-making
...
on
...
issues
...
such
...
as
...
megasite
...
management).
...
A description is given for the geohydrological system, and the fundamentals of Risk Assessement and risk-based management are discussed. Finally, a generic approach for developing megasite mangement scenarios is given.
The information and ideas presented here, have a generic and theoretical nature and are used further on in the IMS to develop practical applications for megasite management. This section should therefore be used as a generic mind-setter and as conceptual background information.