FIRElinks

Bridging the gap between fire ecology and fire behaviour - 2022 Summer school in Barcelona
2022-06-13 - 2022-06-16 | Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Campus Diagonal Besòs, Edificio A. EEBE, C. d’Eduard Maristany, 16, Barcelona, 08019, Spain
Summer school
Bridging the gap between fire ecology and fire behaviour
Barcelona, 13th – 17th June 2022

Summary
Fire ecology and fire behaviour scientists have been working independently on the understanding of wildfires for a long time, but the mutual benefits that the ones could bring to the others are uncountable. Due to this, an interaction between both fields is essential to bring the most complete view under wildfires studies. What each one of the disciplines can bring to the other is the first question that should be asked. Knowing the basics of both sides is the first step in the trip, and the outcome of this training school.
The coming FIRElinks training school will take place in Barcelona, host by the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya between the 13th and the 16th of June of 2022. This year’s training school’s topic is “Bridging the gap between fire ecology and fire behaviour”. We will bring together fire ecologists and experts in fire behaviour to cover the basics and to put together a platform where discussion and understanding will be together.
This summer school is designed for early career researchers in the field of wildfire that are interested on the present and future of the relation between fire ecology and fire behaviour fields, motivated to deepen on both, meeting other students and experts working on the same problem. The venue hosting this event is the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, located in Barcelona.
To apply for this summer school, registration must be submitted in the firelinks.eu website (see the RSVP section below), and a brief CV and a motivation letter has to be submitted both to Elsa Pastor (elsa.pastor@upc.edu) and Nieves Fernandez Anez (nieves.fernandez@hvl.no). Deadline for registration is the 20th of April, and acceptance will be notified by the 25th of April. The best candidates will get a full scholarship covering all the associated costs.
List of lectures
Elsa Pastor – Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Nieves Fernandez Anez -Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
Andrey Krasovskiy – International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Paulo Fernandes – Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro
Imma Oliveras – Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement
Nuria Prat – Pau Costa Foundation
Xavi Ubeda – Universitat de Barcelona

Program
DAY1 – afternoon (Monday June 13)
Welcome: registration and material
Key note lecture: “Bridging the gap between fire ecology and fire behaviour”

DAY 2 (Tuesday June 14)
Module 1. Fundamentals of combustion and fire dynamics
Module 2. Fundamentals of fire ecology

DAY 3 (Wednesday June 15)
Module 3. Fire behaviour metrics and monitoring
Module 4: Fire effects and fire related plant traits
Module 5. Fire behaviour modelling and simulation

DAY 4 (Thursday June 16)
Study tour

Arnhem 2022 WG1 Meeting
2022-05-11 09:00 - 2022-05-12 16:00 (Europe/Brussels) | Netherlands Institute for Public Safety (NIPV), Arnhem, Kemperbergerweg 783, Arnhem, 6816 RW, Netherlands
Venue: Netherlands Institute for Public Safety (NIPV), in Arnhem, The Netherlands, led by Nienke Brouwer.
Participants: 12 experts selected considering gender and country distribution equality.
Deadline to register on the website (https://firelinks.eu/): 15.04.2022
Selected participants will be informed 18.04.2022 to organize the trip.

11th May
09:00 Welcome to participants
09:15 Keynote “Wildfires in the Netherlands” – Jelmer Dam
10:15 Overview of European projects on Wildfires
11:00 Coffee break
11:30 Overview of European projects on Wildfires
12:30 Lunch
13:30 First activity WG1 – Online survey
14:30 Coffee break
15:00 Second activity WG1 – Book
16:00 Wrap up of the day
16:30 End of the day

12th May
09:00 Summary of first day
09:15 Keynote “Ongoing research in the Netherlands”
10:15 Field trip
16:00 End of the day

2022 WG2 Meeting
2022-03-09 08:00 - 2022-03-10 14:00 (Europe/Brussels) | Centro Forestal CEFOR, Lugar Manut, 3, Menut, Escorca, 07315, Spain
Fire effects on Fauna and Vegetation Group Meeting
COST FIRELINKS, 9th – 10th March 2022, Mallorca, Menut

ECOGEOMORPHOLOGICAL CONNECTIVITY AS A TOOL
IN POST-FIRE CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT

Venue and accommodation (organized by local host Joan Estrany and MEDhyCON Research Team; http://medhycon.uib.cat) – Balearic Forestry Center, located in the middle of the Tramuntana Range (Escorca), http://www.caib.es/sites/xarxaforestal/ca/informacio-19072/, nearby the famous Lluc Sanctuary (http://lluc.net).
RATIONALE
Nowadays, the important improvements of remote sensing equipment (hyperspectral, multispectral, thermal and LiDAR) as well as modelling image algorithms (Structure from Motion, SfM) let to simultaneous acquisition of vegetation and soil dynamic information that could be integrated to manage the landscape at higher spatial and temporal resolutions, and concretely to design effective strategies for post-fire habitat restoration. Under this context, the connectivity –as a synthetic approach between ecology, hydrology and geomorphology– may provide the framework to reconcile the disparity between erosion rates measured at small spatial scales with rates of denudation at larger spatial scales as well as evaluate cost-effective strategies for catchment management. Thus, for effective management and intervention in catchments a process-based understanding of connectivity is required so that: i) conceptual rather than solely empirical understanding drives how managers interpret a system; and ii) there is an understanding of how continuous flow fields develop under different sets of environmental conditions to enable managers to know when, where and how to intervene successfully in catchment processes to achieve sustainable management. Connectivity is defined as the transfer of matter between two different landscape compartments. In the case of sediment, connectivity encompasses the connected transfer of sediment from a source to a sink in a system via sediment detachment and sediment transport, controlled by how the sediment moves between all geomorphic zones in a landscape. This framework may therefore provide details on how hydrological and sediment movement vectors interact with vegetation to better understand the sensitivity of a catchment to external forces such as wildfires.
Post-fire restoration assessment and management is an urgent and required task to minimize the effects of wildfires in southern Europe, as well an increasing concern for the centre and northern European countries due to the environment effects imposed by the climatic change. It is not really new the importance of the link between plants and soil, however at ecosystem scales this topic was not developed at all, mostly due to the technological and methodological limits.
It is important to take in mind that vegetation is an active factor that can modify by itself the own sediment connectivity, acting as sediment traps, reducing surface energy fluxes and modifying slopes as well soil type and structure. When sediment connectivity is reduced and vegetation covers most of the catchment growth in this case will be also vegetation growth and development will be driven by biotic factors as the own species competence.
In the meeting to be held the next 9th and 10th of March 2022 in Menut (https://www.caib.es/sites/xarxaforestal/ca/informacio-19072/), Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca, Spain, we plan to discuss -in the forefront of earth systems sciences- the interactions between external factors such as wildfires, vegetation and soils under the ecogeomorphological connectivity paradigm, from ecophysiological plant-truth data measurements up to remote-sensing data, in association with continuous monitoring of water, sediment and associated contaminant fluxes in burned catchments.
MAIN TASKS FOR THE PARTICIPANTS

A short presentation of 20-30 minutes about their topic.
Discussion after each presentation.
Proposal of a chapter or paper per participants/teams for a book or Special Issue respectively which will be submitted after the meeting (achievement necessary for the COST Action).

Participants arrival, and transport to the Menut facilities (Balearic Forestry Center). Dinner together at Lluc´s Village (5 min by car from Menut).

From 08:00 Breakfast
09:00 – 9:30 Opening, introduction of the program and participants
09:30 – 10:30 Presentations and discussion of participants
10:30 – 11:00 Coffee break
11:00 – 12:30 Presentations and discussion of participants
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch
13:30 – 19:00 Excursion to Andratx burned catchment (monitoring of erosion and vegetation recovery), led by MEDhyCON Team
20:00 Dinner in Lluc

From 08:00 Breakfast
09:00 – 10:30 Discussion on COST deliverable Ecogeomorphological connectivity as a tool in post-fire catchment management applicable in different environmental conditions, methodological approaches aiming at low-cost, operational workflow applicable in nature conservation
10:30 – 11:00 Coffee break
11:00 – 12:30 Brainstorming on future possible collaborations. Discussion on possible collaboration within the network – another possible joint papers on wildfire effects on flora and fauna by assessing different aspects of ecosystem dynamics over different spatial and temporal scales, metadatabase (sharing the data and ideas), etc. All ideas are welcomed!!
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch
13:30 – 14:00 Closing the meeting – summary of the meeting as a base for future COST FIRELINKS meetings
14:00 Departure (organized by the local hosts).

ORGANIZATIONAL DETAILS
Venue and accommodation: Balearic Forestry Center, Menut, Escorca municipality, located in the axis of the Tramuntana Range, http://www.caib.es/sites/xarxaforestal/ca/informacio-19072/, nearby to Lluc Sanctuary (Ma-710 Pollença – Lluc km 17.5), https://goo.gl/maps/W1WNcvYJUAMWNxby8, GPS coordinates: 39°49’50.8″N 2°53’59.3″E
Accommodation (provided by organizers): Simple dormitories at the Balearic Forestry Center (mountain hut), sheets & blankets are provided. Take your own towels and toiletries! There is kitchen and wifi
Catering: Breakfast and coffee break provided by the organizers. Lunch also in Menut, but it must be paid by the participants with the Daily Local Allowance (15€ per lunch). Joint dinners booked in a restaurant at Lluc. Let us know of any food allergies or special diet!
Transport from/to airport: Can be provided by the organizers (let us know your arrival/departure time ahead) or by rental car (car rental is very cheap in Mallorca). There is also some public transport to Lluc but not to the Balearic Forestry Center. Local organizers will have a car and can pick/drop you off if you need (but let us know in advance).
For further details on the venue, ask to Joan Estrany, joan.estrany@uib.cat
This remote beautiful place is very small and special, located in the heart of the beautiful Tramuntana Mountains, a UNESCO heritage place in the category of cultural landscape. It is perfect for such an intensive meeting. Looking forward to meet you all there!

2022 WG5 Meeting
2022-02-25 09:00 - 2022-02-26 18:30 (Europe/Brussels) | Centro de Documentación Científico, Calle -Street- Rector López Argüeta, 4, Granada, Granada, 18001, Spain
FIRElinks WG5 meeting
Socioeconomic impacts and regional issues of fire management

Local Organizers: Research group SEJ170 (Landscape, Land Management and Local Development) led by Dr Yolanda Jiménez Olivencia and Departament of Regional Geographical Analysis and Physical Geography (Universidad de Granada).
Title of the meeting: Socioeconomic impacts and regional issues of fire management.
Participants: 12 (FIRElinks members) selected considering gender and country distribution equality.
DEADLINE TO REGISTER ON THE WEBSITE (https://firelinks.eu/): 08.02.2022
SELECTED PARTICIPANTS WILL BE INFORMED THE 09.02.2022 TO ORGANIZE THE TRIP.
*Possible Airports: Málaga+Bus (1 hour from the Airport) or Granada.
Main tasks for the participants:

A short presentation of 20-30 minutes about their topic.
Discussion after each presentation
Proposal of a book chapter per participants/teams for Springer which will be submitted after the meeting as a co-edited book (achievement necessary for the COST Action).

Centro de Documentación Científico, Granada city
8:30: The participants Will be received in the hall with a little breakfast (coffee, fruit, bread, etc.).
9:00-9:30: Presentation of the meeting (Local organizers and institutions).
9:30-12:00: Presentations
12:00-12:40: Coffee break
12:40-13:30: Presentations
13:30-15:30: Rest and lunch (Restaurante El Botánico, reserved by the local organizers; paid by each participant using the Daily Local Allowance, 15-18€).
15:30-17:00: Presentations and discusión
17:00-17:30: Coffee break
17:30-18:30: Final discussion and book proposal

Field trip (Sierra Nevada organized by INFOCA). Necessary excursion clothes and warm jackets.
8:30: Bus department/cars (place to be determined)
17:30-18:30: End of the meeting.

Online 2021 WG2 Meeting
2021-05-12 09:00 - 15:00 (Europe/Brussels) | Online
FIRElinks WG2 meeting
Effects of wildfires on flora and fauna
Digital Event, May 12th 2021, 09:00 to 15:00

Due to the restrictions with the current situation, the WG4 meeting will be held online to allow collaborators to participate.
The meeting will be focused on the effects of wildfires on flora and fauna on a European scale.
First part aims to evaluate the effects of fire on fauna, whilst the second one to assess the effects on vegetation. On the whole, the meeting aims to encompass environmental processes, ecoregional perspectives as well as methodological approaches.

The meeting will be focused on the effects of wildfires on flora and fauna on a European scale.

First part pretends to evaluate the effects of fire on fauna, whilst the second one to assess the effects on vegetation. On the whole, the meeting pretends encompassing environmental processes, ecoregional perspectives as well as methodological approaches.

CENTRAL EUROPE TIME

9:00 A.M – 9:15 A.M. Welcome
Short Introduction by:
Prof Artemi Cerda (Chair) and Prof Stefan Doerr (Vice Chair) of the COST EU action COST Action “Fire in the Earth System: Science & Society” (FIRElinks)
Dr Joan Estrany, Workgroup leader 2: Effects of fires on flora and fauna
Explaining the programme:
Dr Zorica Popović (Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković” – National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade) and Jesus Rodrigo Comino (Universität Trier) (organization)

9:15 A.M. – 9:30 A.M. Introduction participants
Breakout virtual rooms:
Further introduction between participants in small groups (5-10 persons).

What is your link with the effects of wildfires on flora and fauna?
What is your risk perception in your country concerning these effects?

9:30 A.M. – 10:00 A.M. Impact of fire on aquatic fauna
Speaker: Dr Vesna Djikanović, University of Belgrade (Serbia)

10:00 A.M. – 10:30 A.M. Effects of fire on terrestrial animal populations: the role of fire refuges
Speaker: Dr Pere Pons, Department of Environmental Sciences, Universitat de Girona (Spain)

10:30 A.M. – 11:00 A.M. Break (30 minutes)

10:55 A.M. – 11:30 A.M. Accidental forest fire as an important management tool for the biodiversity of bees and wasps
Speaker: Dr Petr Bogusch, University of Hradec Králové (Czech Republic)

11:30 A.M. – 12:00 A.M. Fire severity and post-fire vegetation recovery
Speaker: Dr Emanuele Lingua, Università degli studi di Padova (Italy)

12:00 A.M. – 12:30 A.M. Leaf area index and water availability. Implementation in fire-affected areas
Speaker: Dr Nataša Čereković, University of Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

12:30 P.M. – 13:30 P.M. Lunch break (60 minutes)

13:30 P.M. – 14:00 P.M. Tackling the two-way relationships between fire and fire-adapted invasive plants
Speaker: Prof Joaquim S. Silva, Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Centre for Functional Ecology (Portugal)

14:00 P.M. – 14:30 P.M. Drivers of vegetation and soil fungal community development following a fire in a boreal forest production landscape
Speaker: Dr Gustaf Granath, Researcher, Department of Ecology and Genetics, EBC, Uppsala University (Sweden)

14:30 P.M. – 14:45 P.M. Questions/reactions

14:45 P.M. Closure

Online 2021 WG4 Meeting
2021-04-26 10:00 - 16:30 (Europe/Brussels) | Online
WG4 meetingFire effects on runoff, sediment and pollutants delivery
Digital Event, April 26th 2021, 10:00 to 16:30

Due to the restrictions with the current situation, the WG4 meeting will be held online to allow collaborators to participate.
The meeting will be focused on the exchange of experiences on a European scale.In the morning: risk analysis in different parts of Europe with a focus on new-fire-prone countries.In the afternoon: risk awareness and education strategies.

10:00 – 13:00
10:00 – 10:15 Joining
10:15 – 10:30 Welcome address and open WG4 meeting

10:30 – 11:30 Keynote speaker:
10:30 – 11:10 Manuel López-Vicente “Vegetation recovery and sediment connectivity in Mediterranean fire-affected areas with soil erosion barriers“
11:10 – 11:30 Discussion
11:30 – 13:00 Invited speakers:
11:30 – 12:00 Slobodan Milanović “Forest fire occurrence probability mapping in Serbia”
12:00 – 12:15 Discussion

12:15 – 12:45 Teresa E. Leitão, Isabel Laranjeira and J.P. Lobo Ferreira “Case studies in Portugal concerning the impacts of forest fires in water and soil quality”
12:45 – 13:00 Discussion

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch brake
14:00 – 14:45 Invited speaker:
14:00 – 14:30 Nelson Abrantes “Off-site impacts of wildfires – Ecotoxic effects on aquatic systems”
14:30 – 14:45 Discussion

14:45 – 16:00 General discussion and roundtable
16:00 – 16:30 Closure

Online 2021 WG5 Meeting
2021-03-29 09:00 - 15:30 (Europe/Paris) | Online
WG5 meetingWildfires: Risk analysis, awareness and education strategies
Digital EventMarch 29, 2021, from 9:00 to 15:20 CET

Due to the restrictions with the current situation, the WG5 meeting will be held online to allow collaborators to participate.
The meeting will be focused on the exchange of experiences on a European scale.In the morning: risk analysis in different parts of Europe with a focus on new-fire-prone countries.In the afternoon: risk awareness and education strategies.

9:00 A.M – 9:15 A.M. Welcome
Short Introduction by:
Artemi Cerda (Chair) and Stefan Doerr (Vice Chair) of the COST EU action COST Action “Fire in the Earth System: Science & Society” (FIRElinks)
Nuria Prat, Workgroup leader 5: Socio-economic aspects of fire and fire risk management

Explaining the programme:
Ingeborg Tiemessen (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Henk Alkemade (Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed) and Jesus Rodrigo Comino (Universität Trier) (organization)

9:15 A.M. – 9:25 A.M. Introduction participants
Breakout rooms:
Further introduction between participants in small groups (5-10 persons).

What is your link with wildfires?
What is your risk perception in your country concerning wildfires (low-medium-high)?

9:25 A.M. – 10:00 A.M. Wildfires and risk management in the Netherlands
Speaker: Jelmer Dam, National coordinator wildfire management.
Institute for physical safety/ Fire department

Wildfire risk in the Netherlands
Organization fire management in the Netherlands, Weaknesses and strengths
Implementing risk awareness

10:00 A.M. – 10:30 A.M. What is necessary to control wildfires? Bringing stakeholders together.
Anne Reichgelt, senior advisor Probos, independent knowledge institute for sustainable forest management.
10:30 A.M. 11:00 A.M. Wildfires and risk management in Europe
Quick overview of the other participating countries.
Each country explains shortly (10 minutes):

Overview wildfire risk
Organization fire management
Implementing risk awareness
Reflections earlier presentations

Spain: Alvaro Escrig (Head of the Forest Brigades Service (Divalterra, Valencia Provincial Council) ,
Portugal: Fabio Silva (He works in Portugal in the Special Civil Protection Force, an organization integrated in the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority.
Denmark: Kim Lintrup (Chairman FireAID Denmark)
11:00 A.M. – 11:15 A.M.
Break (15 minutes)
11:15 A.M. – 11:30 A.M. Most remarkable international lessons learned so far (Mentimeter). All participants
11:30 A.M. – 12:00 A.M: A Wildfire Risk Assessment Framework in the Netherlands
Max van Gerrevink, Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
(VU University Amsterdam)
Research group: Marleen de Ruiter, Toon Haer, Charlotte Rappel and Max van Gerrevink.
12:00 P.M. – 12:15 P.M. Discussion: How this risk assessment framework can be used in raising awareness?
12:15 P.M. – 13:15 P.M. Lunch break
13:15 P.M. – 13:30 P.M. Introduction Educational strategies, afternoon programme
Ingeborg Tiemessen, geography teacher/teacher educator Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences Amsterdam
13:30 P.M. – 13:50 P.M. Introduction wildfire principles useful for implementing risk awareness and education strategies.
Helena Ballart, Pau Costa Foundation, Educational Programs.
13:50 P.M. – 14:20 P.M. Facing fire: Service-learning to improve training in wildfire management.
Although wildfire research and substantial technical advances have been made in recent years, quality training requires special strategies to face this complex problem. Introducing innovative approaches in training will contribute to overcoming the shortage of skilled workers and will boost employment in fire-prone regions with high unemployment rates.
Agustin Merino, University of Santiago de Compostela (USC)
Students: David Otero (USC) and others.
14:20 P.M. – 14:30 P.M.: Questions/reactions
14:30 P.M. – 14:55 P.M. How to involve children by education
Briony Towers, Centre for Urban research, RMIT University & Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC (virtual presentation).
Problem based learning for bushfire safety.
14:55 P.M. – 15:05 P.M.: The situation of wildfire education in Europe. Possibility to share initiatives.
15:05 P.M. – 15:20 P.M. Need for educational follow up? Subscribe.
15:20 P.M. Closure

Online 2021 WG3 Meeting
2021-03-01 10:00 - 16:30 (Europe/Paris) | Online
Working Group 3 online meeting:
Fire effects on soils
Digital EventMarch 1st, 2021, from 10:00 to 16:30

Due to the restrictions with the current situation, the WG3 meeting will be held online to allow collaborators to participate.

10:00-10:15. Joining of participants to the online meeting room.
10:15-10:30. Welcome address by WG3 leader prof. Irena Atanassova.
10:30-11:00. Anna Brook and Lea Wittenberg. Erodibility as a tool to assess the effect of ash-soil laminar structure on hydraulic properties and infiltration timescales.
11:00-11:15. Brief discussion.
11:15-11:45. Saskia Keesstra. SDGs and wildfires: the role of soils in sustainable fire management.
11:45-12:00. Brief discussion.
12:00-12:30. Stefan H Doerr. Predicting and mitigating fire impacts on soil and water quality following the Australian 2019/2020 wildfires: insights from Sydney’s largest water supply catchment.
12:30-12:45. Brief discussion.
12:45-13:45. Lunch time.
13:45-14:15. Nurit Shtober-Zisu and Lea Wittenberg. Long-term effects of wildfire on rock weathering and soil stoniness in the Mediterranean landscapes.
14:15-14:30. Brief discussion.
14:30-15:00. Heike Knicker. Recent advances on fire effects on SOM.
15:00-15:15. Brief discussion.
15:15-15:45. General discussion with all participants.
15:45-16:15. Artemi Cerdà. Challenges and proposals for the future meetings of the WG.
16:15-16:30. Closure of the meeting by the WG3 leader prof. Irena Atanassova.

Digital 2020 WG1 Meeting
2020-11-03 | Online
2ndWork Group 1 Meeting:Fire occurrence, dynamics and prevention
Digital EventNovember 3, 2020, from 09:00 to 16:30

Due to the restrictions with the current situation, the 2nd meeting for work group 1 will be held online to allow collaborators to participate.
We will have two great keynote speakers presenting the current situation of wildfires in California and Australia, Dr. Michael Gollner (University of California, Berkeley, USA) and Dr. Matt Plucinski (CSIRO, Canberra, Australia).
We will also speak about the current ongoing activities and discuss their future and future activities of interest for our working group.
The attendance to this meeting will be limited to 50 people, so please register your interest on participating by the 28th of October.
To this end, we hope to see you at the meeting!

09:00 Welcome to participants
09:15 Keynote – Dr. Michael Gollner (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
10:00 Keynote – Dr. Matt Plucinski (CSIRO, Canberra, Australia)
10:45 Coffee break
11:00 Activities and future work WG1
12:00 Lunch
13:00 Progress on Activity 1 (Book on European fire reality)
14:00 Progress on Activity 2 (Survey on fire models)
15:00 Progress on Activity 3 (Training school on fire dynamics)
16:00 Wrap-up
16:30 End of the day

Sevilla 2020 Training School on Soil Organic Matter and Fire
2020-03-29 - 2020-04-03 | Instituto de Recursos Naturales e Agrobiologia de Sevilla, Av. de la Reina Mercedes 10, Sevilla, 41012, Spain
1st European FIRElinks Training School
“What does fire to Soil Organic Matter? Chemical and physical characterization of pyrogenic organic matter and its impact on soil functions”
March 29 – April 3, 2020, Seville, Spain
Vegetation fires are part of our world since geological times. Although they are devastating, they offer changes for renewal of ecological systems and landscapes. Emitting huge amounts of greenhouse gases, charcoal residues can – after their incorporated into the soils – increase the C-sequestration potential of soils. These are only a few of the many contradicting aspects of vegetation
fires that have to be understood for a comprehensive analysis of the impact of fire in a world affected by global change.
As a start, the intention of the present course is to discuss the effects on fire on the system “soil” and to obtain insights into some powerful analytical tool presently available for its characterization.
Based on this, the objective of this training course is the introduction of PhD students and post-Docs
i) into typical methods for characterizing soil properties and soil microbial activities
ii) into modern analytical tools such as spectroscopic (NMR; FTIR, IRMS) or microscopic techniques (TEM, NMR-micro imaging)
both within lectures given by experts and practical work in the lab and in the field.
Important deadlines:
15/02/2020: Abstract submission
03/03/2020: Notification of Acceptance
15/03/2020: Deadline for payment
Registration Fee: 120 € (covers participation, course material and lunch)
The FIRElinks COST Action provides scholarships for excellent young researchers. The awardees will be selected based on their abstract and the CV.
Maximal participation: 25
Application procedure:
Please send the application with
– your curriculum vitae (CV) and
– an abstract (1 page, 12 pt) explaining:
a) Why do you want to participate?
b) What do you expect to get out?
c) How will you use the information and experience that you gain?
to: cost.summerschool@gmail.com
At the meeting the own research shall be presented within a 20 min- talk Download the training school flyer. 18:00 registration, and short tour through Seville 9h00-13h30:
– Welcome and organization of workgroups
– Introduction: What is FireLinks? (Artemi Cerda, Chair of Firelinks)
– Effect of Fire on the C/N cycling in soils? (presentations by Kajar Köster (Finnland) and Heike Knicker (Spain)
– Stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry (Jose Antonio Gonzalez Perez)
– Introduction into analytical pyrolysis, FTIR (Jose Maria de la Rosa)
13h30-14h30: lunch
14h30- 18h00:
– solid-state NMR spectroscopy (Heike Knicker)
Groupwork: Design of a project “Determination of parameters that are necessary to evaluate the impact of fire on soils” created by the student
9h00-13h30:
– Understanding the impact of wildfires on soil-vegetation dynamics, hydrological and erosional processes (Lea Wittenberg)
– Student presentation
13h30-14h30: lunch
14h30- 18h00: Lab work (in groups):
1. basic soil parameters
2. How to use FT/IR
3. Introduction into analytical pyrolysis, stable isotopes mass spectrometry
4. Solid-state NMR spectroscopy
9h00-13h30: Field trip: After Fire-management: Examples in the Sierra de Aznalcollar
13h30-14h30: lunch
14h30- 18h00:
Student presentations
Fire as part of ecological systems or to reduce negative impacts of fire (Artemi Cerda)
Discussion about Fire-management
9h00-13h30: Lab work (in groups)
1. basic soil parameters
2. How to use FT/IR
3. Introduction into analytical pyrolysis, stable isotopes mass spectrometry
4. Solid-state NMR spectroscopy
13h30-14h30: lunch
14h30- 18h00:
– Visit of the Alcazares
9h00- 13h30
– Student presentation
“press conference”: Scenario: Major forest fires occurs in the South of Spain, It is approaching small villages and an important natural park. It`s is a “man-made” fire that went out of control. At the same time there is a big demonstration “Friday for future” and a big conference called “Fire as a natural element of ecosystems”. There will be journalists, politicians, specialists and affected civilians.

Sardinia 2020 WG5 Meeting
2020-03-24 - 2020-03-27 | Associazione Baddesalighes, Sardinia, Str. Badde Salighes, Bolotana, Province of Nuoro, 08011, Italy
During thousands of years, Sardinia, as other Mediterranean regions, developed a socio-ecological mosaic landscape composed by agriculture, forest and shrublands. Nowadays, the idea of mosaic is still considered as one of the best infrastructures to mitigate the impact of natural hazards, such us wildfires, pests and flooding. However, in the last 60 years, the migrations due to industrialization from rural to urban areas, caused a devaluation of rural economies and led to rural abandonment. The impacts of this abandonment are still very visible in the land, thus dense forest and shrublands now occupy the traditionally managed landscapes. These unmanaged lands generate a much higher risk, e.g. of large wildfires, for rural communities and also for urban population living in wildland urban interfaces under highly vulnerable conditions.
Understanding the way societies need to co-exist with natural risks, enhancing risk mitigation from a bottom-up approach, encouraging actions done by local communities and discussing the best way to apply traditional land management, are key actions needed in order to improve risk management. To succeed, all these actions shall be linked to a sustainable economic model that is not only based in the economic values, but a model that includes other values contributing to build resilient landscapes and societies. Download the meeting flyer.
1 st Working Group 5 Meeting & Workshop with stakeholders
Associazione Badde Salighes 1879,
24 and 27 March 2020
8:30 – 10:00 Registration. Welcome words and introduction (EFI, PCF, CFVA)
10:00 – 10:30 Coffee break
10:30 – 12:00 Visit to Percy House and neighborhood (Associazione Badde Salighes 1879)
12:00 – 13:30 Lunch break
14:00 – 17:00 Face-to-face discussion on (EFI, PCF, CFVA, Ag. Forestas, Regional Civil Protection):
• Recent fires in Sardinia. Traditional fire knowledge in Mediterranean Region
o Weakness and strengths in fire landscape
o Water and fire in Sardinia: a lookout
• Climate change and new vision about prevention
17:00 – 19:00 Planning for the coming days
20:00 Welcome dinner 8:30 – 11:30 Fieldtrip to Natural park with Ilex aquifolium, Taxus baccata and Quercus sp.
11:30 – 13:00 Discussion about forest and pasture management: changes in landscape, issues about conservation management or active silviculture, how local communities contribute to more resilient landscapes?
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch break
14:00 – 17:00 Bioeconomy presentations:
• Tourism and local products. Is it compatible with resilient landscape management?
• Lessons learnt from the FireFlocks project: extensive livestock for fuel reduction
• EFI bio-economy experts
17:00 – 18:00 New vision in self-protection of rural settlements. Are the actual measures against fire effective? What can we do to improve our safety?
20:00 Dinner and networking 8:30 – 9:00 Travel to visit a burnt area or performance of a prescribed burn
9:00 – 12:30 Opening of the prescribed burn (Sardinia CFVA GAUF+ EFRS and other operators)
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch break
13:30 – 17:30 Conclusion of the prescribed burn and mop-up
17:30 – 19:00 Face-to-face discussion with locals: could we recover ancient traditions by creating local groups of experts in the use of fire?
19:00 – 20:00 Travel back to the forestry house
20:00 Dinner 8:30 – 10:00 Communication workshop: “How to facilitate the communication within local managers and interactions with policymakers?” (By Ewa Hermanowicz)
10:00 – 12:00 Discussion and approval of “Carta di Badde Salighes”: best practices to enhance landscape resilience in rural communities
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch and departure

Synergy Workshop Year 1
2020-03-09 - 2020-03-12 | University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel, Abba Khoushy Ave 199, Haifa, Haifa, 3498838, Israel
Synergy Fieldmeeting COST ACTION Fire in the Earth System Year 1
University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel,
9-12 March 2020
FIRElinks will develop the EU-spanning network of scientists and practitioners involved in forest fire research and land management and connect communities from different scientific and geographic backgrounds, allowing the discussion of different experiences and the emergence of new approaches to fire research.
The synergy meeting aims to bring together people from different working groups to see the fire related issues the Israeli colleagues are dealing with. The meeting will visit three different sites to see where fire impacts in a dryland system and in urban areas. 13:30 Welcome to participants
14:00 Introductory talks by Israeli key scientists (tbd)
15:00 Coffee break
15:30 Introductory talks by Israeli stakeholders (tbd)
16:30 Coffee break
17:00 Discussion with stakeholders and participants of the synergy meeting
18:00 End of the day. 09:00 Keynote by Dan Malkinson on fire effects in the mountains of Israel
9.30 Invited talks by Juli Pausas (tbc)
10:00 Invited talk by Stefan Doerr (tbc)
10:30 Coffee break
11:30 Introduction to the field visits
13:00 Lunch (not provided by organizers)
14:00 Visit to the Hai Bar Carmel Nature Reserve. Guide: Dan Malkinson
18:00 End of the day. 07:00-12:00 Urban fires-hiking in Nahal Ezov. Along the trip there will be
explanations of experts of the sites we will visit. Guide: Lea Wittenberg.
Picknick lunch (not provided by organisation)
12:00-18:00 Field visit to the Siach Nahal Mearot Nature Reserve. Along the trip
there will be explanations of experts of the sites we will visit. Guide: Nurit Shtober 09:00-16:00 Bus excursion to the Judean Mountains. Along the trip there will be
explanations of experts of the sites we visit.
Picknick lunch (not provided by organisation)
16:00 end of meeting

Haifa 2020 WG2 Meeting
2020-03-08 - 2020-03-09 | University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel, Abba Khoushy Ave 199, Haifa, Haifa, 3498838, Israel
1 st Working Group 2 Meeting: Fire effects on Plants and Fauna
University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel,
8 and 9 March 2020
09:00 Welcome to participants
10:00 Introduction of the core group of WG2.
10:30 Coffee break
11:30 General information on goals, scope and objectives of WG2.
12:30 Lunch (not provided by the organizers)
13:30 Working session to discuss ideas for agenda setting papers.
14:30 Coffee break
15:00 Design scopes for agenda setting papers in the field of fire effects on
plants and fauna.
17:00 End of the day. 09:00 Plan the working plan for year 2 of the COST Action.
10:30 Coffee break
11:30 Discussion of deliverables of papers and timeline of WG2 Activies
12:30 End of the WG meeting
Lunch – not provided by the organizers

Aveiro 2020 WG4 Meeting
2020-02-19 - 2020-02-20 | University of Aveiro, University of Aveiro, Department of Environment and Planning, Aveiro, 3810-193, Portugal
1 st Work Group 4 Meeting: Fire effects on water, sediment and contaminant transport
University of Aveiro, Portugal,
19 and 20 February 2020

9h30-13h00: technical workshop on post-fire hydrology – open to WG4 participants

introduction to WG4
short scientific presentations by the participants
discussion about the state of the art

13h00-14h00: lunch
14h00-17h00: public seminar on fire impacts on water resource quality – open to the general public

keynote speech
invited speakers: researchers and managers
roundtable

Evening: social dinner

9h30-15h00: field visit

burned area close to a water uptake point
research sites from the University of Aveiro on ash mobilization and transport
lunch with young researchers

15h00-17h00: brainstorming future plans for WG4

discussion of next deliverables and WG4 research article
agenda for the next years

Haugesund 2019 WG1 Meeting
2019-12-10 - 2019-12-11 | Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bjørsonsgate 45, Haugesund, 5523, Norway
1 st Work Group 1 Meeting: Fire occurrence, dynamics and prevention
Bjørsonsgate 45, 5523, Haugesund, Norway10th and 11th December 2019 from 09:00 to 16:00

09:00 Welcome to participants10:00 Introduction of the core group of WG110:30 Coffee break11:30 General information on goals and objectives of WG112:30 Lunch13:30 Keynote (Elsa Pastor)14:00 Setting the frame for the WG1With a coffee break at 14:3016:00 End of the day

09:00 Brainstorm on research topics and current knowledge gaps10:30 Coffee break11:30 Breakout groups with a focus on key issues to be addressed in WG112:30 Lunch13:30 Selection of topic to work on a review article14:30 Coffee break15:00 Discussion of deliverables and timeline15:30 Plan for future work16:00 End of the day.

Sofia 2019 MC Meeting
2019-10-08 - 2019-10-09 | The House of Science and Technology, Sofia, Rakovsky 108, Sofia, 1000, Bulgaria
First General Assembly & 2nd MC meeting

Moments from the meeting

Presentations
Dear Colleagues,
With this we would like to invite you for the first General Assembly Meeting of the COST Action FireLinks in Sofia (Bulgaria) held on the 8th and 9th of October 2019 in The House of Science and Technology (FNTS) situated close to the city centre.
This first scientific meeting of this COST Action will focus on setting the agenda for the coming 4 years in which the Action will run. A provisional program is listed at the end of this document. Apart from several keynote addresses introducing key issues of fires in Europe and the working group topics the meeting will be attended by fire managers and decision makers outside of academia who will present their view on fire perception, risk and scientific research, and share with us the questions and needs policy makers and end users have. This will link the science and end-user community to find common language and create an interactive atmosphere. In addition, it is important that all involved in this Action will get to know each other and each other’s work. For this purpose we would like to invite all participants (or groups of participants) to make a poster to present their work. In the program there will be ample time to look at each other’s posters and discuss possible linkages and set up collaboration.
To facilitate attendance of as many participants as possible within our limited budget, we will reimburse a flat rate for the hotels of 60 euro per night. This should be sufficient for a 3* hotel in Sofia as there is excellent choice in this beautiful city. We recommend, for example, the Hotel Niky.
Reimbursement
To enable the attendance of as many people as possible we want to lower the flat rate for the hotels to 60 euro per night.
What falls in the reimbursement?

Travel on basis of receipts;
Hotel expenses with a flat rate for accommodation of 60 euro per night (with a maximum of 3 nights eligible for reimbursement);
Meals: flat rate of 20 euro per meal that is not provided by the organisation.

Preliminary schedule and titles for the Meeting

8:15 Registration opens
9:00. Stefan Doerr. Welcome and draft agenda of the meeting
9:10. Artemi Cerdà. Introduction to the FIRElinks mission
9:30. Keynote 1: Jesús San-Miguel-Ayanz
Wildfire trends and wildfire risk forecasting at the European level
10:00 Keynote 2: Nicolas Faivre
Opportunities and challenges of the FireLinks network within the EU R&I landscape
10:30 Coffee break
11:30 The ‘Fire Problem’ and ‘State of the Art’ in each country – Part 1
(10 minutes per national representant)
Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Israel
13:00 Lunch at the conference venue
14:30 The ‘Fire Problem’ and ‘State of the Art’ in each country – Part 2
(10 minutes per national representant)
Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Serbia, N. Macedonia, Kosovo, Bulgaria
16:00 Coffee break
16:30-17:30 2nd MC meeting (only open to MC members)/ Posters attendance for non MC members
17:30-18:30 Posters with discussions and refreshments
Conference dinner (20 euro to be paid to the organization and reimbursed via COST)

9:00 Keynote 3: Juli Pausas
Wildfires as an ecosystem service
9:30 Keynote 4: Gavriil Xanthopoulos & Ioannis Mitsopoulos
The catastrophic fire of July 2018 in Greece and the Report of the Independent Committee that was appointed by the government to investigate the reasons for the worsening wildfire trend in the country
10:00 Keynote 5: Nina Dobrinkova
CMINE Wildfire Task Group activities and fire risk modelling tools applicable for fire suppression measures
10:30 Coffee break
11:00 The State of the Art it each country – part 3
(10 minutes per national representant)
Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Latvia
12:30 Lunch at the conference venue
14:00 The State of the Art it each country – part 4
(10 minutes per national representant)
UK, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia
15:30 Coffee break
16:00 Breakout groups with a focus on key issues to be addressed in each WG, and for promoting training and career development
17:00 Breakout group feedback and panel discussion to set the agenda for this COST Action
18:30 Closure

Sofia 2019 WG3 Meeting
2019-10-06 - 2019-10-07 | Sofia University, Building of the Faculty of Biology, 4th floor, 8 Dragan Tsankov Blvd, Sofia, 1164, Bulgaria
Soils and forest fires today. Science and Society

1st Working Group 3 meeting. Firelinks 6th of October

Venue: 8 Dragan Tsankov Blvd, 4th floor, SofiaBuilding of the Faculty of Biology,Sofia University (10 min walking from FNTS General Assembly meeting).
10:00-12:00. Reception of the participants.12:00. Artemi Cerdà Firelinks. Challenges and targets.13:00. Lunch14:00. Welcome address by WG leader Irena Atanassova14:30. Opening by Action Chair Artemi Cerda and Action Vice Chair Stefan Doerr.15.00. Open discussion on how to set up the work of WG3 for 4 years of Firelinks.16:00. Coffee break.16:30. Milestones and Deliverables for WG3. Ideas and further developments.18:00. closure

Venue: N. Poushkarov Institite of Soil Science, Sofiaul. Bansko shose 7, 1331 Sofia
9:00. Irena Atanassova. Welcome and plan.9:10. Artemi Cerdà. Road to Firelinks and soils.9:30. Irena Atanassova. Soil chemistry and fire. Organic geochemical markers in burnt soils andsoils amended with biochar. Overview and challenges.10:00 Lea Wittenberg. Soil physics, soil erosion and fire. Overview andchallenges.10:30 Coffee break11:00 Stefan Doerr. Soil water repellency and fire. Overview and challenges.11:00. Soil microbiology and fire. Overview and challenges.
11:30. Open discussion. Gaps in knowledge and opportunities for research.12:30. Lunch.13:30. State-of-the-art and future challenges in forest fires effects on soils13:30. Heike Knicker. How does pyrogenic organic matter input affect soil functions?14:00. Agustin Merino; Stefan Doerr, Christina Santin. Innovative techniques to study SOM andP in soils as a tool for the management of burnt areas.14:30. Report (paper) on fire effects on soils (all participants).Proposal for the structure of the report (all participants)15:00. Coffee break.15:30. Composing separate groups to discuss different sections of the report.16:30. General discussion about the report with all participants.17:00. Challenges and next meeting of the WG. Candidatures.17:30. Future challenges and milestones for Firelinks (by Artemi Cerdà)18:30. Closure
