The FirEUrisk report
Final months of the project—let’s ensure that its legacy endures!
It feels like we just started yesterday, yet over three years have passed since we launched our project. And we have certainly been busy! We’ve completed all our Demonstration Events, tested several solutions across our five Pilot Sites, and developed around 80 products. Keep reading to see what else we’ve been up to!
7th & 8th Plenary Meetings
Gathering in Athens and Alghero, a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas and align our goals
We had the pleasure of meeting in Athens (Greece) and Alghero (Sardinia) for our Plenary Meetings this year. As we enter the final stretch of the project, creating a space to discuss the project’s deliverables and assess what remains to be done was essential, and with 38 partners involved, it’s clear that keeping up with all our colleagues’ activities can be challenging.
During both our Plenary meetings, we discussed the key products developed by the Work Packages, such as the fuel models and human ignition probability maps, which have already been disseminated and are currently in use!
Our partners have already produced over 50 papers throughout the project, along with 80 products developed, which will be showcased in product cards over the coming months. An important milestone has been marked with the Pilot-Site demonstrations completed focusing to launching the open platform with the data sets and the viewer.
Conversations in Athens and Alghero emphasized the need to prioritize social engagement in risk reduction efforts, rather than solely focusing on technical recommendations. The challenge lies in engaging with first responders, facilitating the transfer of our research findings to firefighters, and fostering collaboration between the scientific community and various local and European fire agencies to enable the sharing of the latest information and tools.
Additionally, we had the opportunity to address areas needing improvement, such as our deliverables! There will be some work to tackle before FirEUrisk concludes. But the good news is that we still have time, not only to improve during the project but also to ensure that the legacy of FirEUrisk endures.
All partner presentations from the meetings are available on the project’s SharePoint. And our next and final meeting will be in the beautiful city of Alcalá de Henares, near Madrid, so we’ll see each other there for our last review!
Strategies for wildfire management
Developing a detailed poster to showcase our results
For over three years, we have been developing tools to assess, mitigate, and adapt to the threat of wildfires. During this time, we have produced up to 83 products, ranging from fire behavior predictive models to Guidelines for citizen involvement in wildfire risk reduction.
One of our most significant achievements is the creation of detailed fuel maps. Fuels play a crucial role in understanding fire behavior and studying them can enhance wildfire prevention and management efforts. Our goal was to develop a standardized system that could be applied across all European countries, with general categories that are easily comparable across regions.
From FirEUrisk, we designed a system that groups fuel types found throughout Europe and displays them in a poster alongside the Pilot Sites map and the integrated risk management diagram.
Would you like this poster personalized with a QR code for your Pilot Site? Let us know!
Three years of ongoing battle in Ukraine
Work must go on despite all difficulties
We have previously discussed the challenges faced by our partners from the Regional Eastern Europe Fire Monitoring Center (REEFMC). The ongoing war, which began in 2022, shows no signs of ending soon. And meanwhile. our partners are contending with numerous hardships: power outages, bombings, poor connectivity, and the theft of all their equipment. Furthermore, many firefighters have been deployed to combat, leaving the Ukrainian population more vulnerable to wildfires.
Luckyly, there haven’t been major fires this summer, though a small fire did occur in the Chornobyl area in September. Despite these challenges, we are still very pleased with the results we’re achieving from this region, and it has been an incredible opportunity to learn more about the behavior of fire in contaminated areas.
Useful resources
Let’s disseminate the material and raise awareness about the project
Planning to talk about FirEUrisk? Check out these resources to help you connect with different audiences.
Motion graphic animation – a 2 minute video explaining the project to a wide audience
Infographic – a simplified view of the project’s approach
Brochure – for anyone to understand the project at a glance