Operational tools for improving efficiency in wildfire risk reduction in EU landscapes (FIREfficient) CIVIL PROTECTION FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS 2013 CALL FOR PROJECTS ON PREVENTION AND PREPAREDNESS IN CIVIL PROTECTION AND MARINE POLUTION THEME : PREVENTION Priority 2. Hazard identification and risk modeling, taking into account climate change adaptation Eduard Plana Bach Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia

Project title:Operational tools for improving efficiency in wildfire risk reduction in EU landscapes Project Acronym: FIREfficient The project will be implemented in the following countries: Spain, Germany, United-Kingdom Beneficiary and partners: Coordinator: Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia - CTFC (ES) AB1: Department of Interior from the Government of Catalonia - INT-GRAF (ES) AB2: European Forest Institute - Central European Regional Office and the Observatory for European Forests - EFICENT-OEF (DE) AB3: Fire Ecology and Management Foundation Pau Costa Alcubierre - PCF (ES) AB4: King's College London - KCL (UK) Total project eligible cost: € EC financial contribution: € (= 75 % of total eligible costs) Starting date: 01/01/2014Ending date: 31/12/2015Duration in month: 24 FIREfficient : Operational tools for improving efficiency in wildfire risk reduction in EU landscapes EC 2013 Call for projects on prevention and preparedness in civil protection and marine pollution

Rationale: FIREfficient : Operational tools for improving efficiency in wildfire risk reduction in EU landscapes EC 2013 Call for projects on prevention and preparedness in civil protection and marine pollution The need of adapting the planning procedures and practices to those fires is urgent, but as their local frequency in every region is low every planning developer has difficulties to implement cost-efficient measures. Therefore, a cross-sectorial, transnational view is required to manage and make the best possible use of the available knowledge from the operational, scientific and technological views. The success in some regions of new approaches integrating anticipatory fire fighting strategies based on detailed knowledge of fire behaviour patterns into fire fighting, civil protection plans and land-use planning offers new possibilities in the applications of such approaches elsewhere in Europe Under climate (and global) change scenarios the footprint of high intensity and unprecedented wildfires is likely to increase causing major socio-economic and environmental impacts and affecting new areas that historically had not experienced significant impact from wildfire events. EU countries may undergo risk situations associated to fire in which civil protection and global emergency management will become increasingly important.

Objectives: The FIREfficient project aims to establish a sustainable knowledge and “lessons-learned” platform for the us by stakeholders at European level dealing with innovative tools and practices for the integration of prediction of potential fire events into land-use planning for improving wildfire prevention and attenuating the impacts of fires on civilians and properties, from a cost-effective approach. FIREfficient : Operational tools for improving efficiency in wildfire risk reduction in EU landscapes EC 2013 Call for projects on prevention and preparedness in civil protection and marine pollution The project seeks to build capacity for land and fire planners to enhance the transfer of best practices and lessons learned in wildfires in the planning practices and processes moving towards a common frame across Europe. The Project actions are part of a sequential process of capitalization and transfer of knowledge and experiences structured in three phases: 1) Review and identification of innovative tools, processes and best practices 2) Adaptation of the tools, methodologies and practices to the European context, and 3) Deign of several products and a free-access platform for the capitalization and transfer of knowledge and experiences.

Deliverables (27): FIREfficient : Operational tools for improving efficiency in wildfire risk reduction in EU landscapes EC 2013 Call for projects on prevention and preparedness in civil protection and marine pollution T 1 Management and reporting to EC 1st progress report (1/9/2014) 2nd progress report (1/4/2015) Final progress report (31/12/2015) Minutes of the coordination meeting (all along the Project life) Project’s Monitoring and Evaluation System (29/1/2014) External Audit report (1/4/2016) T 2 Reviewing key knowledge, tools and best practices to integrate wildfire patterns assessment into land planning Report on review and evaluations of knowledge to measure extreme fire spread risk at stand and landscape level planning (1/7/2014) Report on obstacles and challenge for wild fire risk integration into land planning (1/7/2014) Proceedings of the international workshop on wildfire risk assessment and land planning (1/8/2014 tbc)

FIREfficient : Operational tools for improving efficiency in wildfire risk reduction in EU landscapes EC 2013 Call for projects on prevention and preparedness in civil protection and marine pollution T 3 Building capacity on potential fire event assessment for land and fire planners Protocol for testing fire spread models (1/4/2015) Training activities on the use of crown fire hazard charts (1/4/2015) Protocol for ignition risk assessment (1/4/2015) Tools for training in fire behaviour (1/4/2015) Protocol for a cost-effective assessment on fuel treatments at landscape level (1/4/2015) Questionnaires and interviews in social perception of fire risk (1/2/2015) Methodology for incorporating large fire risk into landscape management decisions making (1/5/2015) Training standards in wildfire risk planning (1/5/2015) T4 Developing knowledge management strategies and transfer tools Common Characterization Framework on communication for transferring spatial wildfire planning (15/8/2015) Common Characterization Framework on wildfire vulnerability assessment and reduction at landscape level (15/8/2015) Expert database of land and fire planners (1/9/2015) Knowledge-based platform (1/9/2015) Best-case database (1/9/2015)

FIREfficient : Operational tools for improving efficiency in wildfire risk reduction in EU landscapes EC 2013 Call for projects on prevention and preparedness in civil protection and marine pollution T 5 Information, dissemination and capitalization actions Communication and dissemination plan ( (20/1/2014) Project website (20/1/2014) Book of Guidelines (1/4/2015) Articles and Newsletters Informative material (31/12/2015) Layma’s report (15/12/2015)

Follow-up: The complexity of the management of fire risk and the fast technological progress require a continuous revision of the knowledge, best experiences and innovations The aim of the project would not be achieved if the knowledge-based on-line platform is not planned as a permanent and on-going platform The platform will be maintained and regularly updated by partners, which will look for additional resources in order to ensure the continuity of the platform and the long term storage of the information generated during the project. Project topic research and developing activities fully fit with the main permanent activities carried out by the staff from partners FIREfficient : Operational tools for improving efficiency in wildfire risk reduction in EU landscapes EC 2013 Call for projects on prevention and preparedness in civil protection and marine pollution

FIREfficient conceptual frame: FIRE PREVENTION Prevention plas Prescribed burning Investigation of causes Social awarness WILDFIRE RISK MANAGEMENT Integration socioeconomical and ecological driving forces affecting positively or negatively fire risk from a cross-sectoral approach Forestry Agricultural land and grazzing Settlements LAND-USE PATTERN SUPRESSION & CIVIL PROTECTION SOCIAL DEMANDS & PERCEPTIONS FIREfficient : Operational tools for improving efficiency in wildfire risk reduction in EU landscapes EC 2013 Call for projects on prevention and preparedness in civil protection and marine pollution Mr. Eduard Plana Bach. FIREfficient Coordinator Head of Forest Policy and Environmental Governance Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia – CTFC Thanks for your attention