The University of Valencia leads the FIRElinks project, a 4-year COST action of the European Union, in which 38 countries participate and with a total allocation of one million euros, which aims to investigate how to avoid or mitigate the great fires, more and more frequent, that occur due to the increase in forestry and climate change. Artemi Cerdà, professor of Physical Geography at the UV, works in areas affected by fires or that may be, in countries such as Bulgaria, Holland, Turkey, Spain or Germany, to establish networks with scientific, managerial, political and professional personnel, and also with owners.

The main objective of FIRElinks is, according to the expert, "to promote synergistic collaborations between European research groups and stakeholders with the aim of synthesizing existing knowledge and experience, and defining a concerted research agenda that promotes an integrated approach to create fire resistant landscapes”. This agenda should take into account biological factors, biochemical and physical constraints, but also socioeconomic, historical, geographical, sociological, perceptual and political ones.

Avoiding or limiting large fires is a pressing social need due to their increased intensification and spread. In this sense, within the FIRElinks project, meetings have been held in different European countries, and in August a period of great activity begins with multidisciplinary meetings in Turkey, Germany and Poland. Previous meetings have been held in the Netherlands, Norway, Bulgaria or Spain. Throughout 2023 and 2024 the activities will continue.

COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is an action program that provides funding for research and innovation networks that help connect research initiatives from Europe and beyond, and enable researchers and innovators grow their ideas in any field of science and technology by sharing them.