CMCC – UNISS Winter school on behavior, risk and management of fires in the context of climate change

Winter school on fire behavior, risk and management in the context of climate change

The first decades of the XXI century have seen some of the most catastrophic fire events in terms of their impact on society. The evident changes in the trend of the fire regime are mainly due to two factors: (i) on the one hand the weather / climatic conditions in a context of global warming, and (ii) on the other hand a greater predisposition to fires of the landscape, due to changes in land use and land cover during the XX century. Extreme weather events such as prolonged droughts and heat waves facilitated the occurrence of wildfires with extreme behavior, straining the capacity of forest fire protection programs mainly focused on fire suppression activities.

The current situation may be further exacerbated by the expected changes in climate. In fact, as also reported by the IPCC (2019), climate change “is playing an ever greater role in determining the regimes of fires together with human activities”. On the other hand, the level of risk of new fire regimes driven by global changes also depends on the increased vulnerability of European society to fire disturbances and on how the population, technological development, and land management will evolve.

Objectives

The Winter School will cover the latest advances and results related to four major themes:

• large and extreme fires and predisposing factors (environmental, physical, economic, social aspects);
• fires in the urban-rural and urban-forest interface;
• prevention, planning and management of fire risk towards fire-smart communities;
• adapt the territory to climate change (strategies, approaches, methods and tools).

The course aims to stimulate interaction and the activation of new synergies between researchers, stakeholders and end-users.

The Winter School is organized in the framework of the “MED-Star” and “INTERMED” Projects, funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the Italy-France Maritime Program 2014-2020.

Dates, tuition, and deadlines

Mode of instruction : Online – 26 hours in four days

Dates: 11 and 18 March 2022 – 1 and 14 April 2022

Fees: Participation is free

N. of participants: Maximum 45

Credits: TDB

Winter course admission deadline: 10 January 2022 is the final date to apply. Candidates must complete the online application form detailing the motivation as well motivazione (here the link https://forms.gle/w3UZ994odBga1ZoZ9). Applications received after this date will not be taken into consideration.

Programme description

The course will be held online and involve participants in 4 days of lessons and training activities, respectively dedicated to four thematic blocks. The sessions will start at 09.00 am and will last approximately till 5pm.

Scientific Committee

Schedule of Lessons

11 March 2022 – Large fires: predisposing factors, climate changes and impacts
09.00-13.00 Lessons
09.00-10.00 Large fires: definitions and predisposing factors (environmental, physical, economic, social aspects) | Dr. Michele Salis, Dr. Bachisio Arca
10.00-11.20 Extreme fire behaviour | Prof. Domingos X. Viegas
11.30-12.30 Climate change, definitions, causes, future projections | Dr. Antonio Trabucco
12.30-13.00 Fire regime and fire emission under climate change scenarios | Dr. Valentina Bacciu

14.30– 17.00 Training/Projects/Lessons learnt/Case study
14.30-15.30 Short, medium, long-term forecasts and projections and operational capability in the field of forest fires | Docente: Dr. Antonella Sanna
15.45-17.00 The OFIDIA2 project, from the development of an operational chain to fire danger predictions | Dr. Maria Mirto

18 March 2022 – Fires in the urban-rural and urban-forest interface
09.00-13.00 Lessons
09.00-10.00 Wildland Urban Interface (WUI): definitions and terminology| Dr. Costantino Sirca
10.00-11.30 Risk, danger, exposure and vulnerability mapping in WUI | Dr. David Caballero
11.45-13.00 WUI mapping models and techniques at different scales | Dr. David Caballero

14.30 – 17.00 Training/Projects/Lessons learnt/Case study
14.30 – 15.45 WUI, territorial planning and fires (experiences in the South of France) | Dr. Christophe Bouillon
15.45 – 17.00 The INRAE methodology for WUI mapping | Dr. Christophe Bouillon

1 April 2022 – Prevention, planning and management of fire risk towards fire-smart communities
09.00-13.00 Lessons
09.00-10.00 Fire prevention planning | Dr. Davide Ascoli
10.00-11.00 Sustainable forest management and “close-to-nature” preventive forestry | Dr. Davide Ascoli 11.15-12.30 Smart solutions for integrated fire prevention | Prof. Anna Barbati

14.30 – 17.00 Training/Projects/Lessons learnt/Case study
14.30 – 15.45 Role of PSR programming for fire prevention and integration with regional fire planning | Prof. Anna Barbati
15.45 – 17.00 Executive AIB prevention projects financed by PSR measures | Dr. Davide Ascoli

14 April 2022 – Adapt the territory to climate change
09.00-13.00 Lessons
09.00-10.15 Adaptation to climate change: definitions, treaties, current status | Dr. Valentina Mereu
10.15-11.30 Initiatives and tools for assessing vulnerability and climate risk | Dr. Valentina Bacciu
11.45-13.00 The process for implementing adaptation strategies and plans | Dr. Valentina Mereu

14.30 – 17.00 Training/Projects/Lessons learnt/Case study
14.30 – 15.45 Impact chain development | Dr. Serena Marras and Dr. Valentina Bacciu
15.45–17.00 Application of a participatory approach for the characterization of adaptation actions | Dr. Serena Marras, Dr. Valentina Bacciu, Dr. Valentina Mereu