7 OCT 2018 - 15:14 CET

The General Directorate for Research, Technological Development and Innovation of the European Commission (DG RTD) and the Institute of Agronomy in Lisbon (ISA) have organized the Workshop that took place in Lisbon on February 15^th and 16^th under the title "How to Face Mega-Fires in Europe". The objective of this meeting was to analyze the current challenge of forest fires and their manifestations in Europe, starting with the catastrophe that occurred last June in Pedrogão Grande (Portugal), where more than 60 people died.

The Workshop had the highest scientific and political level, and it has involved the most outstanding people at the European Community and national level, such as the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Carlos Moedas, Marc Castellnou, Jesús San-Miguel, Gavriil Xanthopoulos, David Caballero and Domingos X. Viegas, among others. The professors Francisco Rego and Cristina Montiel have participated in the preparation and development of this workshop, which has highlighted the need to adopt a new integrated approach in the management policy of forest fires in order to change the current paradigm and to adapt it to the challenges that poses the management of uncertainty in the context of global change. Likewise, the advantages offered by a legally binding European frame of reference have been highlighted. This European framework will facilitate the adaptation of national policies and operating systems to face a complex and mainly human problem.

Participants in the Workshop called attention to the need to capitalize on the knowledge acquired through the 56 European research projects developed since 1994, which have involved a total investment of 103 million euros, through collaboration between politicians, scientists and territorial stakeholders, and through the direct and co-responsible involvement of the whole society.