The invention relates to a method for monitoring an environment through a plurality of sensors, wherein a control system receives information from one or more sensors of said plurality and uses said information in order to monitor said environment. The method comprises a setup stage wherein an operator creates a model of an environment by defining a plurality of cells corresponding to areas of said environment, and then creates cell/sensor relationships by defining for each sensor at least one possible position which is associated with at least one cell. For each position the sensor is assigned by the operator a monitoring judgment for the associated cell. The method also comprises an operational stage wherein the control system, in order to perform a surveillance function, finds those sensors which can be used for carrying out the requested surveillance function and controls them based on the monitoring judgments and the cell/sensor relationships.