3rd edition of the International Conference on Fire Behavior and Risk – ICFBR2022

The third edition of the International Conference on Fire Behavior and Risk – ICFBR2022 will be held in Alghero from 3 to 6 May.

The event, organized by the CNR Institute for BioEconomy (CNR IBE) and by the Department of Agriculture of the University of Sassari (UNISS), in collaboration with EARSeL (European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories) and CMCC Foundation (EuroMediterranean Center on Climate Change), represents an important meeting point for researchers, students, experts in fighting forest fires and rural, political decision makers and society on the multiple aspects related to the prevention, prediction, behavior and management of fires and their impacts.

Conference convenors, Pierpaolo Duce for CNR IBE and Donatella Spano for UNISS, will present the Conference program (https: //www.icfbr2022.it/programma/) and will introduce the institutional session which includes the greetings of the Councilor for the Defense of the Environment Gianni Lampis, of Sinda co of the city of Alghero hosting the event, Mario Conoci, and the Rector of the University of Sassari Gavino Mariotti. Giorgio Matteucci, Director of the CNR IBE, Alessandra Stefani, general director of the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, Renzo Motta, President of the Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology, Stefano Marsella for the Central Directorate for Prevention and the Technical Safety of the National Fire Brigade, and Giovanna Tortorella for the Managing Authority of the European program INTERREG Italy France Maritime.

The Conference will make use of the contribution of international experts of the highest scientific prestige, who will speak as keynote speakers: Prof. Marta Yebra, of the Australian National University, Dr. Alexandra Syphard, of Sage Insurance Holdings, Dr. Juli Pausas, of the Centro de Investigación sobre Desertificación of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Prof. Ana Miranda , of the University of Aveiro (Portugal), and Dr. Alan Ager of the USDA Forest Service.

During the three days of work, the results obtained in various European projects will be illustrated, the point will be made on the development of analysis and modeling tools for the assessment of fire behavior, approaches and options for sustainable forest management will be discussed and proposed in report on fire prevention, and a session will be offered to the problem of fires in the urban-rural interface.

ICFBR2022 also dedicates a special session to the scientific works of the EARSeL association, coordinated by one of the leading experts on Mediterranean fires, prof. Emilio Chuvieco, of the University of Alcalà, Spain.

The Conference is the most important communication event of the INTERREG Italy-France Maritime (2014-2020) MED-Star projects, coordinated by the General Directorate of Civil Protection of the Sardinia Region, and INTERMED, coordinated by the Collectivité de Corse.

The Conference is also sponsored by the Regions involved in the MED-Star project (Sardinia, Tuscany, Liguria, the Collectivity of Corsica, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur) as well as by MIPAAF (Ministry of Agricultural Policies, Food and Forestry), SISEF (Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology) and EURAF (European Federation of Agroforestry).

“This conference is an extraordinary opportunity for our scientific community and for stakeholders” – says Donatella Spano – “to contribute to the growth of knowledge and the development of tools to prevent and control a phenomenon that on a global level often has consequences of catastrophic proportions, with a very high social, economic and environmental impact, also as a result of the extreme conditions due to current and future climate changes. “

” The results brought to the conference “- declares Pierpaolo Duce -” derive from a set of important projects cross-border which have seen for the Mediterranean area the involvement and comparison not only of researchers but also of operators and of all levels of territorial governance, with the aim of contributing together to improve the current management models and make the territories more resistant and resilient to fires”

The event is attended, in presence and in live streaming, by over 300 researchers and experts in the sector, from sixteen European countries, including France, Greece, Portugal and Spain, in addition to Italy, and 9 Non-European countries (North Africa, USA, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Russia and the Middle East) united by the phenomenon of forest fires and the struggle the risks of climate change.

MED-Star is a strategic project funded under the Italy-France Maritime 2014-2020 cross-border cooperation program and aimed at the prevention, forecasting and joint management of risks deriving from fires. The project involves sixteen different partners between public bodies and research institutions from different territories: Sardinia; Corsica; Liguria; Tuscany; Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region (PACA).

INTERMED is a simple project, funded under the Italy-France Maritime Cross-border Cooperation Program 2014-2020, with the aim of reducing the vulnerability to fires in the areas of urban-rural interface, that is the areas where infrastructures or human activities are in contact with wooded areas.

The venue for those who will attend is the Hotel Carlos V at the Lungomare Valencia in Alghero. For more information https://www.icfbr2022.it/