Do bridges dream of water pollutants? Towards DreamsKG, a knowledge graph to make digital access for sustainable environmental assessment come true

Abstract

An environmental assessment (EA) report describes and assesses the environmental impact of a series of activities involved in the development of a project. As such, EA is a key tool for sustainability. Improving information access to EA reporting is a billion-euro untapped business opportunity to build an engaging, efficient digital experience for EA. We aim to become a landmark initiative in making this experience come true, by transforming the traditional manual assessment of numerous heterogeneous reports by experts into a computer-assisted approach. Specifically, a knowledge graph that represents and stores facts about EA practice allows for what it is so far only accessible manually to become machine-readable, and by this, to enable downstream information access services. This paper describes the ongoing process of building DreamsKG, a knowledge graph that stores relevant data- and expert-driven EA reporting and practicing in Denmark. Representation of cause- effect relations in EA and integration of Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) are among its prominent features.