Project description

Regulating the wildfire problem by the wise use of fire

The social, economical and environmental consequences of the current wildfire regime in southern Europe are severe, and are likely to aggravate and geographically expand in the near future. FIRE PARADOX (http://www.fireparadox.org) has developed contributions for mitigating fire impacts by creating the scientific and technical foundation for practices and policies consistent with the concept of integrated wildland fire management. For the sake of integration, coherence and completeness, FIRE PARADOX approaches fire from four complementary sides, respectively. These are prescribed burning (a powerful tool in proactive reduction of wildfire risk), wildfire initiation, wildfire propagation, and suppression fire (the use of fire in fire fighting).

Project description

Project acronym: FIRE PARADOX

Project full title: An Innovative Approach of Integrated Wildland Fire Management – Regulating the Wildfire Problem by the Wise Use of Fire: Solving the Fire Paradox.

Project coordinator: Francisco C. Rego, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Portugal.

Contract no: FP6-018505

Starting date: March 2006

Duration: 48 months

Partnership: 36 partners from 17 different countries and 4 continents.

Goals of the conference and participants

The aim of the conference is to introduce novel views on the use of fire, thus stimulating new strategies and policy actions towards integrated fire management at regional, national and European levels. This conference is targeted (but not limited) to European and national policy makers and representatives of agencies and organizations responsible for forest and land management and for fire protection. The main outcomes of the project pillars – prescribed burning, wildfire management, and fire use practices and policies in Europe – will be presented and complemented by interactive demonstrations and poster sessions.

Agenda

THURSDAY, 25 FEBRUARY 2010

13:30 Registration

14:00 Welcome addresses

14:15 Keynote address: Fire as a unifying force: A social and cultural fire history of Europe

14:55 Philosophy and main outcomes of Fire Paradox

15:25 Mitigating wildfire risk and managing wild lands with prescribed burning

16:10 Break

16:30 New tools and practices for wildfire management

17:15 Fire Paradox documentary

17:45  Interactive session: demonstrations and posters presentations

18:45 Icebreaker (offered except for late registration)

FRIDAY, 26 FEBRUARY

9:00 Fire use practices and policies in Europe

9:45 Interactions with non-European partners of Fire Paradox

10:15 Coffee break / Interactive session: demonstrations and poster presentations

11:15 Results of the round table “Future Synergies and Cooperation”

11:30 Fire Paradox legacy: regulating the wildfire problem by a wise use of fire

12:15 Solving the Fire Paradox – views from an international perspective

12:30 Closing speech by EC representative

Conference language: English.

Organizers 

The conference will be co-organized by the partners of the Fire Paradox project, and, hosted jointly by the Global Fire Monitoring Centre (GFMC) and the Central European Regional Office (EFICENT) of the European Forest Institute (EFI), both based in Freiburg, Germany.