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Abstract
A decision‐making tool for assessing priorities for climate control in historic houses has been piloted at two English Heritage (EH) historic houses. The tool, an environmental management plan (EMP), had been designed by EH to help decision‐making regarding control strategy by bringing together all the relevant information and expertise at the same time. The focal point of the EMP is a facilitated meeting between various stakeholders and experts about the importance of the climate issues and the effectiveness of different control options, using a framework based on cost‐benefit analysis. This article reports trials of such meetings to reach agreed broad solutions about climate control at Kenwood House and Chiswick House. It is shown that by careful pre‐planning, use of a prepared decision matrix and an external facilitator, agreed solutions can be achieved in 1 day. Attention is drawn to the need for the issues affecting the decision to be extremely well defined, and to the importance of negotiation.