FIREPRIME’s partners and invited stakeholders gathered for the workshop “Co-creating FIREPRIME – the European Program for Wildfire-Prepared Communities” on November 26–27 at the UPC premises (Campus Besòs) in Barcelona. The workshop aimed to showcase the final FIREPRIME toolkit and to shape the project’s sustainability and exploitation plan. About 70 participants attended. FIREPRIME is a DG-ECHO-funded project.
The first day focused on presenting the FIREPRIME toolkit, a suite of resources designed to boost wildfire resilience in WUI communities by enhancing household fire safety, strengthening infrastructure, and fostering community engagement and education. The resources were developed and tested in the Barcelona area (La Floresta, Sol i Aire, and Mas Fortuny WUI communities of Sant Cugat), the Austrian Tyrol (Haiming), and the Gothenburg region. They are publicly available on the project’s IT platform (fireprime.eu) in several languages (Spanish, Swedish, German, and Catalan).
The programme also featured an invited talk by Héctor Alfaro from the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC–EU Civil Protection Mechanism). He provided an overview of UCPM 2025 wildfires, emphasizing that WUI wildfires require a different operational approach and that UCPM resources must be adapted accordingly, with WUI communities considered key actors in preparedness and prevention. In addition, residents from the Barcelona pilot communities shared their experiences during the pilot tests, highlighting the usefulness of the FIREPRIME outcomes—particularly the FIREPRIME app.
The second day opened with the talk “DG-ECHO Actions on Population Preparedness” by María Martín de Almagro and Riccardo Grisanti from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department (DG-ECHO). This led to a round table on FIREPRIME’s future sustainability and exploitation, with representation from DG-ECHO, MITECO (Spain’s Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge), Civil Protection of Catalonia, and the Institute of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems (Greece). The sessions were followed by breakout groups addressing key topics related to FIREPRIME’s sustainability and exploitation: the FIREPRIME app’s long-term maintenance and business model; critical infrastructure uptake and integration; the Sant Cugat continuity plan; and exploitation in Catalonia and at the EU level. The outcomes of these discussions will be integrated into the project’s sustainability and exploitation plans to ensure they reflect real-world needs and perspectives.
The workshop also gave the attendees the opportunity to access and test the FIREPRIME app firsthand. The app is expected to be available for free on the App Store and Google Play within the next two weeks.
