Presentation letter

We are once again pleased to share with all of you the list of activities that the entire team and community of the Pau Costa Foundation carried out during 2024.

At the institutional level, in 2024, we pursued an important external agenda to strengthen and create new alliances with key actors, aiming to boost and consolidate collaborations in training and operations. Specifically, we held meetings with political representatives and emergency services leaders in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil. We also explored opportunities in Morocco and Tunisia by participating in the Euro-Mediterranean Forest Fires Workshop on Prevention and Fight Against Forest Fires and Natural Areas through the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).

In the field of Training and Operations, we continued to consolidate our presence in Latin America. In 2024, we launched the EGIIF Ecuador project to implement the Integrated Wildfire Management Strategy in Ecuador. This project aims to establish four forestry brigades – including a robust training program – and to develop a wildfire awareness program. The latter is an innovative component in our training initiatives, as it gives significant prominence to education and awareness about wildfires as a key factor in fostering a culture of fire. In addition, we delivered a mini-EGIF in Bolivia, focusing on emergency organization, applying the Incident Command System theory to operations, and incorporating fire behavior analysis into decision-making processes. We also organized and participated in courses on fire behavior analysis, fire-related meteorology, and more.

Regarding the area of Knowledge and Applied Science, in 2024, we launched the ambitious EWED project, which we coordinate. EWED (Extreme Wildfire Events Data Hub for Improved Decision Making) aims to improve existing knowledge on Extreme Wildfire Events (EWEs) and enhance preparedness and response capacities. The main outcome of this project is the creation of an innovative portal containing data from high-intensity wildfires and prescribed burns, as well as fire–atmosphere interaction models generated from this data. This new initiative joins six other active Knowledge and Applied Science projects in 2024.

In the area of Resilient Landscapes and Societies, we launched numerous projects in 2024. Through Ramats de Foc, we continued to welcome new shepherds into the initiative and consolidated its presence in the Montnegre-Corredor Natural Park. The Ramats de Foc team also contributed its expertise to two new projects: PREPAST, to promote extensive livestock farming in the Pre-Pyrenees of Lleida, and RUMIAR, to create an agroforestry mosaic landscape in the Prades Mountains (Tarragona) while strengthening the local economy through forest resources.

To these, we can add FIREPRIME, which aims to establish an EU-wide program to promote wildfire resilience in communities in wildland-urban areas; CARMINE, which supports Europe’s metropolitan communities in becoming more climate-resilient by co-producing knowledge-based tools, strategies, and plans to improve adaptation and mitigation actions; Debosiguem!, which provides integrated solutions in the Pyrenees for sustainably managing wildland-urban interface areas to reduce wildfire risk and adapt to climate change; BIO FOR PIRI, which addresses key factors in preventing extreme wildfires and promotes the social bioeconomy in the Catalan and Aragonese Pre-Pyrenees; and Fire and Biodiversity in Alta Garrotxa, which strengthens socio-ecological resilience through sustainable management practices for wildfire prevention and biodiversity conservation.

Finally, we continued our Education projectes and outreach activities on wildfires, helping build more resilient societies where children can be agents of change. Throughout 2024, we kept offering the MeFiTu environmental education workshop in various settings, advanced the Edufire Toolkit project to create materials that provide knowledge and raise awareness among teachers and secondary school students about climate change challenges and wildfire risk reduction, and developed the Service-Learning project “How can we prevent large wildfires?” to promote community awareness and action on wildfires.

A special mention goes to our commitment to the Art&Fire project, which we have reinvigorated. We aim to be a reference point for raising awareness about wildfires through art. We have brought new artists and formats into the project and published the book The link with fire, which features works by artist Pep Serra.

We never tire of expressing our gratitude to the Foundation’s members and to the entire wildfire community. We are here because of them. Their support and partnership are essential for us to create impact, remain a reference point for connecting the different sectors of the wildfire community, and to gather and share knowledge.

Let’s keep going!

PCF Team