Description
Two different fire risk communication tools will be developed (drafted, tested, improved and finalized), one being addressed to homeowners and the other to local entities and municipalities. The first tool consists in a set of criteria for self-assessment of fire risk for the property and its inhabitants. Issues such as the vulnerability to fires of the garden plants and nearby vegetation, the ability of the property to stand a fire or the evacuation capability will be considered. For each case, best practices will be recommended. The aim is that the homeowner will be able to identify his/her risk and consequently the corresponding mitigation measures in a quick and educational way. The second tool consists in dissemination materials addressed to local technicians, authorities and municipalities: it will comprise a guide on basic urban planning for mitigating fire risk, which will have a highly visual and didactic format and will include key aspects of fire behaviour patterns when interacting with homes, and related recommendations. In addition, the guide will include a list of best practices to promote community participation in the shared management of fire risk through participatory forums and framework action documents. At this point, the risk self-assessment guide will be capitalised with common events where the results are shared, discussed and can act as an indicator for monitoring the compliance with best practices. The possibility of organising a festive day as awareness-raising event on this issue, with incentive measures as a “competition for the most fire resilient house”, will be tested.
This tasks will lead to the elaboration of several practical communication tools for each project partner, in their local languages, containing operational and policy recommendations (related to actions 2.3 and 2.4) that will contribute to enhance fire prevention amongst target audiences (communities and municipalities) and their resilience to fire: a guide for fire risk self-assessment of properties in wildland urban interface, a guide for the assessment of wildfire risk in the municipalities, as well as a report with operational recommendations on communities involvement and urban planning in wildfire risk management. The test of the tools locally will allow to check their efficiency, and to improve them substantially, adapting them to the local contexts and cultural backgrounds of the southern and Western Mediterranean region.
Expected results
The synthesis on the state of the art on risk communication will be presented in the International Workshop (Action 2.1), allowing to share experiences, best practices and to identify the gaps in this field.
Responsible for implementing it: PCF and FORESPIR
