Environmental consultancy has always been a team effort. Whether you’re assessing the potential of a brownfield site or preparing due diligence for a planning application, success depends on drawing in expertise from hydrogeologists, planners, ecologists, heritage consultants and others, all working together.
Until recently, collaboration often meant working in silos with separate desktops, offline files, clunky email chains and time-consuming map requests. The idea of teams navigating a site assessment together in real time with shared access to maps, notes and environmental data felt like a future still out of reach. But with Groundsure Explorer, that future is here.
The end of the static report
With the launch of Groundsure Explorer, environmental professionals now have a shared, digital space where collaboration happens live, not in disconnected file exchanges or email threads. This is a major shift in how site assessments are conducted and it’s changing not just the speed of project delivery but the clarity of decisions.
Instead of sending PDFs back and forth, consultants can now interact with over 150 datasets through a dynamic, map-based interface. Colleagues across planning, engineering and compliance can log in and instantly see:
- Tagged notes on key findings
- Collaborative labels like ‘review,’ ‘follow-up’ or ‘complete’
- Shared map views and dataset combinations
- Real-time updates to the project’s visual footprint
Collaboration built in
The power of this shift is that it’s not an added layer. It’s embedded into the Groundsure Explorer workflow. When a consultant orders an Insight PDF, access to Groundsure Explorer is automatically included with no extra setup or software needed. The same login provides access to both the report and the live data interface.
From there, teams can work together directly within the platform:
- Add searchable tags to specific locations or risks
- Overlay maps to build a shared understanding of site history and context
- Export screenshots or datasets instantly to support internal or client conversations
- Measure distances or boundaries collaboratively, useful for complex or linear sites
Whether you’re in the same office or on different continents, your team is seeing the same thing.
Everything you need, when you need it
Real-time collaboration doesn’t just save time. It improves the quality of site assessments. When environmental data is locked in static reports, context can get lost. Teams may duplicate effort, miss key connections, or rely on outdated versions of the same document.
By contrast, with Explorer, your entire team can work from a shared visual model of the site. This means:
- Less risk of errors in communication
- Faster alignment across disciplines
- Easier updates as new data comes in
- A clearer audit trail of decisions and discoveries
And because Explorer is designed for ease of use, even team members without GIS expertise can participate meaningfully.
A new standard for environmental workflows
As environmental risks become more complex, from climate-driven flood zones to historical contamination patterns, the ability to work together quickly and clearly has never been more vital. Groundsure Explorer gives professionals a toolkit not just for seeing data, but for working with it together. In short, it’s not just a site viewer. It’s a collaboration space.
Start collaborating today with Groundsure Explorer
Groundsure Explorer is now live and included with every Insight report. If you’ve already ordered, you’re ready to explore. Just log in, click the Explorer banner, and invite your team into the platform.
Environmental risk may be complex. But working together doesn’t have to be. Find out more about Groundsure Explorer and how it can help you today.