Dr. Christine Eriksen

It has been a busy few weeks nurturing connections and building collaborations through three key events and a wonderful network of wildfire researchers and practitioners in Europe.

In May, I was invited by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN/BAFU) to contribute to their first ever “Waldbrand Tagung” (wildfire workshop) on 22 May in Bern. I shared insights from my research on why it is important that communities prepare for wildfire in Switzerland. The premise of my argument is that wildfires pose an urgent social problem across Europe. Recent wildfires demonstrate a fundamental lack of public awareness in Europe of what makes wildfires deadly and how to mitigate these risks; a problematic reliance on technocratic (i.e., technical, top-down) approaches to civil protection; and a fixation with quantitative vulnerability measures and economic cost calculations, which sidelines the intangible costs wildfires inflict on everyday functionality, phys­ical and mental health, cultural heritage and ecosystems services. You can view a recording of the presentation here >>>

From Bern, I continued on to Barcelona in my capacity as a member of the Advisory Board for the FIREPRIME project. FIREPRIME builds on successful international frameworks – like Firewise USA and FireSmart Canada – to establish an EU-wide program that aims to promote fire resilience in wildland-urban interface (WUI) communities through a focus on households, communities, and infrastructure in three pilot areas: Barcelona (Spain), Tyrol (Austria), and Gothenburg (Sweden). During a dynamic two-day workshop on 28-29 May, insights and experiences from multiple countries were shared through presentations, discussions and teamwork to help develop FIREPRIME’s implementation strategy.

From Barcelona, the journey continued on to Brussels for the biannual EU Civil Protection Forum on 4-5 June. During the two days, practitioners, politicians and scholars shared insights and workshopped identified needs. However, more than anything, this event is an outstanding networking opportunity, providing valuable time to catch up with colleagues and to build new connections with people working in different civil protection capacities across Europe.