Academic-Industry Collaboration for Landslides Research and Applications in Scotland

The Scottish Road Network Landslides Study (SRNLS) was instigated by Transport Scotland in response to a series of rainfall-induced debris flow events that compromised the operation of the Scottish Trunk Road Network (TRN) in August 2004. A fast-paced working group formed a plan that included regional susceptibility and hazard assessment, risk ranking, and the determination of appropriate risk reduction measures, reporting in 2008.

The work programme subsequently evolved to include quantitative risk assessment to determine the fatality risk of road users and users of adjacent recreational areas, economic impact assessment to determine financial impacts of closures/traffic restrictions, the implementation and assessment of innovative monitoring techniques and risk reduction measures and strategies, triggering mechanisms, and protocols for network operation during periods of elevated hazard/risk.

The SRNLS working group was comprised largely of consultants, with the author and the British Geological Survey bridging the gap between practice and academia, a role that might be described as that of a ‘pracademic’. This, against a background of significant UK landslides capability, was considered necessary due to the short duration of the first phase of the project, the lack of significant knowledge gaps, and the continuous input required over sustained periods, all of which were considered better-suited to a consultancy model.

Where interaction and cooperation with academia was fruitful was in the EU FP7 SafeLand project, which helped generate many of the ideas that the author later promulgated to Transport Scotland and formed much of the post-SRNLS work. Successful contributions from academia also included a funded PhD at Northumbria University that contributed to the understanding of event triggers and runout, while subsequent projects in cooperation with Northumbria and Newcastle Universities contributed to innovative monitoring techniques (including GB-SAR, micro-seismic, time-lapse imagery). Projects were funded by both Transport Scotland and UK Research Councils, with some internal university funding also utilised.

There is no doubt that academic contributions to the work of Transport Scotland in the landslides arena have been both significant and beneficial. However, the differing priorities of the academic, consultancy and road authorities should be understood and considered when allocating tasks and commissioning projects. As a result, the projects allocated to academic partners have avoided anything that is urgently needed in order to ensure the continued effective operation of the TRN, but have been carefully selected to supplement and add to the knowledge of, and techniques available to, practitioners involved in such work. As a broad and rather general observation, it is tentatively considered that the most successful projects were those that funded university inputs via more traditional means without the inevitable contractual arrangements involved in contracting to a government body. This seems to reflect the differing demands on the time of academics and practitioners and, in particular, the often-heavy teaching loads of some academics.

The observations made in this short note and the associated presentation are based on the author’s experience of working with academics in the UK, continental Europe, and beyond. No criticism of any individual or group is made, intended or implied.