Creating an international brownfields collaborative

Abstract

Introduction. Brownfields and blighted sites are present in all countries and represent significant environmental, public health, economic, and spatial planning challenges. Military, war, and post-war brownfields are becoming increasingly important in the context of contemporary armed conflicts and post-war recovery, particularly in Ukraine. In response to these challenges, experts from the United States, Canada, Romania, and Ukraine established the United States – Eastern European Brownfields Working Group in 2015 to promote community-engaged land reuse and public health-oriented redevelopment approaches. The purpose of this study is to analyze the formation and development of the International Brownfields Collaborative as an interdisciplinary platform for addressing military, war, and post-war brownfields through international cooperation, sustainable redevelopment, environmental security, and public healthoriented approaches.

Methods. The study applies a qualitative collaborative case-study approach based on workshop activities, expert discussions, educational initiatives, and interdisciplinary knowledge exchange conducted within the framework of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) Achieving Sustainability in Ukraine through Military Brownfields Redevelopment. The research examines the evolution of the initial working group into the International Brownfields Collaborative and analyzes its scientific, educational, and organizational activities related to sustainable land reuse and post-war recovery.

Results. The ARW became a platform for expanding the initial working group of five experts from four countries into the International Brownfields Collaborative, which currently includes more than 20 members from 15 countries. The Collaborative united researchers, planners, environmental and public health professionals, educators, and practitioners working in brownfields redevelopment, environmental security, sustainable development, urban resilience, and spatial planning. The study highlights the growing significance of war and post-war brownfields as distinct categories of degraded territories formed by military activity, infrastructure destruction, environmental contamination, and socio-spatial transformation. The Collaborative contributed to disseminating interdisciplinary approaches to brownfields revitalization through workshops, publications, educational initiatives, and Environmental Health and Land Reuse (EHLR) training activities implemented at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. These activities strengthened international academic cooperation, knowledge exchange, and sustainability-oriented competencies among graduate students and young researchers.

Discussion and Conclusions. The experience of the International Brownfields Collaborative demonstrates the importance of interdisciplinary international networks in addressing environmental, socio-spatial, and public health challenges associated with military, war, and post-war brownfields. The study emphasizes the need to integrate sustainable development principles, environmental security, public health, and resilience-oriented spatial planning into post-war recovery strategies. The findings may support policymakers, planning institutions, and academic communities in developing integrated approaches to sustainable redevelopment and environmental recovery in conflict-affected territories.