Presentation short abstract

Today, wildfires frequently manifest as extreme events, particularly in certain latitudes such as the Mediterranean region of Europe. In these cases, firefighting capacities are often insufficient to contain or extinguish large fires.

Presentation long abstract

Today, wildfires frequently manifest as extreme events, particularly in certain latitudes such as the Mediterranean region of Europe. In these cases, firefighting capacities are often insufficient to contain or extinguish large fires. The authors analyse the traditional approach of fire exclusion, mainly based on fast suppression, highlighting the "fire paradox" that leads to fuel accumulation, making further fires more intense and catastrophic.

Wildfires are studied here through the lens of the Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) framework, in order to interpret their evolution and geography. In addition, the Critical Disaster Studies (CDS) framework offers a critical perspective on wildfire governance, regulation, and operational management, as well as on their interconnections with the broader socio-economic contradictions affecting local territories. The CDS argues that wildfires must be approached in all their complexity, through transdisciplinary and intersectional perspectives - contrary to the reductionist approaches, flattened on a technical level, adopted in the past.

A particular focus was dedicated to the Mediterranean context, in particular to Tuscany, where the abandonment of traditional agro-silvo-pastoral activities and rural depopulation have altered the landscape, increasing the vulnerability of these areas to wildfire. The authors suggest moving to "Integrated Fire Management", which includes prevention, education, and finally emergency management. The importance of involving local communities (for example, through Firewise initiatives) to build collective resilience, recover a "culture of fire," and move from a strategy of dominance to one of conscious coexistence is stressed in this paper, through risk perception analysis.