BRIDGE – a participatory-action research project for community engagement in forest fire risk prevention

Maria Rosario Partidario; Guilherme Ximenes; Margarida Monteiro; Rute Martins; Isabel Loupa Ramos; Joana Dias; Maria de Belém Freitas; Carla Maria Antunes; Miguel Teixeira; Henrique Ribeiro; Delta Silva; Margarida Rebelo; Marta Vicente; Afonso Marques; Anastasiya Felenchak

Key information

Authors:

Maria Rosario Partidario (Maria do Rosário Sintra de Almeida Partidário); Guilherme Ximenes (Guilherme Saad Ximenes); Margarida Monteiro (Margarida B. Monteiro); Rute Martins (Rute Martins); Isabel Loupa Ramos (Ana Isabel Loupa Ramos); Joana Dias (Joana Fernandes Dias); Maria de Belém Freitas; Carla Maria Antunes; Miguel Teixeira; Henrique Ribeiro; Delta Silva; Margarida Rebelo; Marta Vicente; Afonso Marques; Anastasiya Felenchak

Published in

October 2022

Abstract

This brief introduces the BRIDGE research project, its core objectives and the main activities that are being developed in view of stimulating local action for forest fires risk reduction. BRIDGE is a participatory action research project (PCIF/AGT/0072/2019) that aims to develop an integrative approach to different forms of knowledge and action, linking science and local communities, to reduce the vulnerability and enhance strategies for forest fire risk reduction, mainly through collective and preventive action. It was initiated in March 2021 as a consortium coordinated by the Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, also including the Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil and the Universidade of Algarve. BRIDGE adopted the Monchique municipality (southern Portugal, Algarve region) as a case study, but aims to develop knowledge, tools and experiences that can be shared with other forest fire risk prone regions in Portugal and elsewhere. An Innovation Laboratory (InnoLab) is central in BRIDGE as a privileged space aiming to promote dialogue and knowledge sharing between local communities, science and organizations involved in forest fire risk reduction, in this case in the Monchique municipality. The main objective of the InnoLab is to bring together all relevant multiple actors that act, directly or indirectly, in the management of forest territories to promote social learning about forest wildfire risk, strengthening networks and building skills and capacities, both socially and institutionally, to foster participatory processes focused on forest fire risk reduction. A Participatory Mapping method was adopted in InnoLab involving the local community, in particular landowners of Monchique, placing them at the centre of the process of identification, analysis and management of forest fire risks, valuing local knowledge and experiences to reduce vulnerabilities and strengthen adaptive capacities from the perspective of local resilience. This brief will share achieved outcomes with the participatory mapping involving local landowners of Monchique. It represented an important social practice to foster capacity-building and collaborative actions to forest fire prevention. It also represented an opportunity to promote social learning to better understand forest territories focusing on key issues in forest fire prevention, local vulnerabilities and adaptive capacities, to trigger a Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR) process in Monchique.