Entitled "FirEUrisk - Developing a holistic, risk-wise strategy for European wildfire management", the project was approved under the European Union 'Horizon 2020 program – topic "Forest Fires Risk Reduction: towards an Integrated Fire Management Approach in the EU": towards an integrated fire management approach in Europe, UC said in a statement.
This "ambitious project" brings together 39 partners from around the world – Germany, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Spain, United States of America, France, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom, Romania, Sweden, Ukraine.
At the University of Coimbra, the study will be carried out at the Center for Studies on Forest Fires (CEIF) of the Association for the Development of Industrial Aerodynamics (ADAI), the Faculty of Science and Technology of UC, also involving teams from the law schools (through the Legal Institute) and Medicine. Generally speaking, "FirEUrisk, with a duration of four years, has as main objectives, to use the scientific knowledge developed to update forest fire risk assessment systems, including critical factors that are not yet taken into account, propose effective measures for its reduction and adapt fire management strategies to future climate and socio-economic changes, the UC points out.
These targets, explains Xavier Viegas's team, "will be achieved in close collaboration between researchers, users and citizens by integrating new technologies, guidelines and policy recommendations to improve current systems and practices, from regional to EU scales." The project will address "all types of forest fires, with a particular focus on mega-fires, the urban-forestry interface and the challenges of emerging fires in the northern European Union."