Objectives – To examine the relationship between participation in a wildfire education program and levels of risk perceptions, and preparedness by comparing students in four high schools..
Methods – Three steps method 1) A survey (risk perceptions, wildfire experience and household preparedness) high school students- 4 different locations Portugal.
2) A 14 sessions school program workshop about wildfire awareness and preparedness through a participatory radio production was performed in 4 participant schools. Topics: a) wildfires awareness and preparedness, b) radio production, c) creation of a participatory radio program.
3) Interviews with participants considering their evaluation of the experience and learnings acquired.
Results –Wildfire awareness and practices were found to be poor. The research highlights areas of change for future wildfire education programmes and provides support for the continued inclusion of this topic in the curriculum. Using radio as a tool seems to have a high potential for integrating climate change and widlfire topics across the curriculum with a focus on civic action. In other words, this learning approach will help build the mindsets and know-how of the world’s young people to be the drivers now and in the future of climate-smart nations.
Conclusions- The paper offers insight into the effectiveness and benefit of incorporating fire preparedness education into the school curriculum in Portugal. Together with an emphasis on multiple domains of knowledge, including indigenous, place-based, and intergenerational knowledge, wildfire education can become an important entry point to developing a breadth of “green skills” and pro-environmental behaviors.

BRIDGE (Bridging science and local communities for wildfire risk reduction) is an action-research project developing a community-based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR) process which is being fostered through a collaborative innovation laboratory (InnoLab). The purpose is to integrate different forms of knowledge and action, linking science and local communities to reduce their vulnerability and to enhance strategies for forest fire risk reduction. With application to Monchique, a forest fire-prone municipality in Portugal, the InnoLab creates a space for dialogue and knowledge sharing between the multiple actors (local communities, science and organizations) that, directly or indirectly, manage Monchique’s forest territories. This way, BRIDGE attempts to facilitate social learning about the risk of forest fires, strengthen collaborative networks and enhance adaptive capacities, both socially and institutionally, for the prevention of forest fires. This presentation aims to share the results of the InnoLab activities, which include (i) school community activities on wildfire risk perception; (ii) participatory mapping of Monchique’s vulnerabilities and risks; (iii) participatory sessions to create the community visioning for Monchique’s territory, to define priorities and capacities to be improved and to identify functions and responsibilities to act; (iv) workshop on CBDRR strategies for action. Lessons are shared on how the different actors perceive their territory (vulnerabilities, risks and opportunities), and on how they can build local capacities towards a more enduring commitment with wildfire risk reduction policy.

Climate-adaptation in wildfire-prone watersheds requires innovative partnerships and funding. Water utilities are one stakeholder group playing a role in these efforts with an increasing number of utilities engaging directly or indirectly in wildfire mitigation activities. The objective of this study was to understand how risk perceptions and other factors influence the engagement of water utilities in wildfire mitigation efforts in the western United States. We conducted an online survey of water utilities in nine states and received 180 responses. While most respondents were concerned or very concerned about future wildfire events and the impact of wildfire on their operations, only 72 utilities (40%) felt they were at least partially responsible for mitigating wildfire risk. Using binary regression models, we explored how a utility’s risk perceptions, biophysical characteristics, and utility characteristics explained these perceptions of responsibility for wildfire risk mitigation. Of the 72 water utilities engaging in wildfire risk mitigation, the most prevalent activities were forest thinning, building fire breaks, and creating fire access roads. These water utilities typically partnered with federal and local government agencies or other water utilities to complete this work. Water utilities funded these activities through a mix of water user fees and grants. Funding was identified as a major barrier to wildfire mitigation activities; other barriers included land ownership and information needs. These findings shed light on what factors influence water utility engagement in wildfire mitigation for water security and help identify leverage points to increase future engagement.

Throughout history, ecosystems and societies have adapted to wildfires, but there is increasing evidence that anthropogenic climate change as well as socioeconomic development are altering wildfire regimes leading to increasing wildfire risk globally and to unprecedented extreme events. More communities and sectors are impacted by wildfires, escalating existing inequalities and leading to conflicts or disfunctions in defining and implementing integrated wildfire risk management (WFRM) strategies. Particularly, what is perceived as fair in terms of outcomes and processes in the development of integrated WFRM approaches is a key concern.
Bringing together the concepts of integrated WFRM and Just Transition (JT), we identify emerging conflicts and challenges along justice dimensions (distributional, procedural and restorative), as well as justice gaps across WFRM phases (prevention, preparedness, response and recovery).
We show that distributional, procedural and restorative justice challenges are evident across all four phases of the WFRM cycle, and across social, economic, cultural and ecological dimensions that impact the process. The challenges are linked to trade-offs arising from (in)actions influencing hazards, exposures and vulnerabilities and the risk ownership definition.
To limit conflicts and inequalities and increase political feasibility and good governance for risk management, justice issues need to be proactively addressed with the goal to establish integrated WFRM approaches that are perceived as fair by all relevant stakeholders. Hence, in upgrading WFRM strategies at the local, national and regional levels, policy and decision makers are advised to explicitly address the (often) implicit justice considerations across the WFRM cycle.

Trends in wildfire size and severity are increasing across the globe, resulting in loss of property, life, and alteration of ecosystems. In the USA, this trend is most pronounced in the Southwest, where seven of the ten largest wildfires in 2020-2021 occurred. These trends are projected to continue at an increasingly rapid pace, resulting in significant challenges for natural resource managers, in addition to human populations that live adjacent to fire-adapted ecosystems. To reduce wildfire risks, implementation of adaptation is critical for effective natural resource management under ongoing climate change. The Southwest Adaptation Science Center (SWCASC) works across California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah to meet wildfire and other climate-induced challenges. Established in 2011, the Center supports actionable science and implementable solutions in partnership with resource managers, policymakers, Native Nations, and researchers. This talk will highlight the diverse set of partnerships related to wildfire and its unique research portfolio focused on the nexus of fire ecology, climate science, and management. Our approach to climate adaptation and risk management includes a deliberate integration of western science with Indigenous knowledge systems in a variety of formats to leverage synergistic adaptation actions, such as prescribed fire and cultural burning practices, a form of low-intensity burning, to promote ecosystem and cultural resilience. The SWCASC incorporates stakeholder engagement at all phases of our work to ensure the co-production of science for broader buy-in at different scales. In turn, the SWCASC is positioned to effectively address the growing urgency of climate change and wildfire risk.

The transition from ‘government’ to ‘governance’, integrating the relevant cross-cutting policies and enhancing the active participation of a range of stakeholders, is still a long journey to be performed by the forestry policies in several European countries, including Portugal. Despite a general understanding of how participatory processes can lead to beneficial outcomes, there is still a lack of evidence-based knowledge on what works, where and for whom, and the need to generalize from these experiences and develop theories to explain factors leading to a successful stakeholder engagement.
This communication aims to present the methodological framework that has been used and improved to gather and generate common interests and future objectives for the territories affected by wildfires. The framework design is supported by the literature pointing to the benefits of collaborative and participatory approaches and their impact on forest governance. The methodology has been used in a case study in Portugal, which deals with complex and wicked problems, such as rural abandonment and wildfires. Researchers developed the methodological framework and facilitated its implementation at the case study level. There is a widespread consensus across different stakeholder groups on the main priorities, some of them already covered by public policy. It was observed that stakeholder groups tend to prioritize projects located in their actuation sphere and role, reinforcing the role of systematic stakeholder representation in participatory decision-making approaches.

Objectives
Indigenous peoples in different biomes have long been using fire for several ends. For many years, these practices have been ignored or forbidden in protected areas and other fire-related State & Government policies. More recently, the “zero fire” paradigm is being questioned, as fire management is increasingly acknowledged as a conservation ally, and so is traditional ecologic knowledge, including indigenous fire practices.
Methods
Two related cases will be presented: 1) an international network which, born in Parupa science station, in Gran Sabana, Pemón indigenous territory, Venezuela, in 2015, then promoted activities in Brasilia (2017) and at Wildfire 2019, Campo Grande, Brazil; 2) the activity, lead by Brazil’s Indigenous Climate Change Committee (CIMC) member Sineia Vale Wapichana of CIR (Roraima Indigenous Council), a paramount indigenous organization, in partnership with IBAMA’s Prevfogo (federal initiative to counter bushfires in Brazil’s federal lands).

Results
We observed a richness and wide diversity of mutually agreed results analyzing these process-cases along almost a decade, such as: i) agreement on common goals and challenges, ii) mutual recognition of different perspectives and legitimacy, iii) need for intercultural and participative approach to design and implement viable solutions.

Conclusions

Despite Indigenous peoples’ involvement in policy-making remains limited, things have been evolving in promising ways in several cases, provided an earnest and peer-to-peer dialogue be established involving indigenous experts, scientists and policy practitioners. The complexity of intercultural dialogue requires strong and permanent investments in social capital, representing a key contribution to the resilience needed by socioecosystems to face sustainability challenges.