Warning for wildfires: Trailblazing a safer future

This webinar brings key interdisciplinary leaders working across different organisations, including Universidad Hurtado in Chile, National Observatory of Athens, Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich to discuss challenges and benefits of implementing warning systems for wildfires. From September 2019 until March 2020, Australia had one of the worst bush-fire seasons in its recorded history. All around the world climate change has increased wildfire risk through drier conditions and warmer temperatures that lengthen wildfire season, increase the chances of a fire starting, and help a burning fire spread. Identifying vulnerabilities to wildfires, monitoring their risk, setting alerts and implementing responses is imperative. So how can we effectively implement these warning systems?

Register, attend and find out.

Presenters

Dr Tomás Undurraga - Director of the Project FONDECYT 1180611 (2018-2021) Forest fires and new climate regime. Interrogating the production of knowledge and valorization of the environment in forest experts in southern Chile. Presenting The Supertanker is a hero, the government a villain: The politicization of Chile’s 2017 mega-fires in the media. 

Dr Vassiliki Kotroni -  Research Director of Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development from the three Institutes of the National Observatory of Athens. Author of ‘DISARM Early Warning System for Wildfires in the Eastern Mediterranean. Presenting Early warning system for forest fires: An operational implementation for Greece.

Dr Christine Eriksen - Christine Eriksen is a Senior Researcher with the Risk and Resilience Team at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich. Widely published research on wildfire preparedness, community cohesion and social-ecological systems. Presenting Wildfire Warnings: for a fiery future, in an emergency, about the long-term social impacts. 

Ian Mannix - Ian Mannix is Director of Forewarned, and former manager of Australian Broadcasting Corporation Emergency Broadcasting. In 2019, he self-published The Principles of Effective Warnings and has written two books that explore the individual behaviours of people who survived floods and bushfires in Australia: Great Australian Bushfire Stories and Great Australian Flood Stories. Ian was awarded the Australian Public Service Medal for his work, and is a Fellow of Emergency Media and Public Affairs, Australia. Presenting The principles of effective warnings.

Learn more about the UCL Warning Research Centre here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/warning-research-centre