SparkleFire: learning to live with fire by playing
The project SparkleFire started in February 2025. It will explore, design and implement games to increase awareness of wildfire risk.
Wildfires
The project ‘SparkleFire: Using fire games and play for disaster risk reduction’ started in February 2025. The project is funded by the European Union through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM), under the Knowledge for Action in Prevention & Preparedness (KAPP) 2024 call. Over two years, SparkleFire will explore, design and implement games to increase awareness of wildfire risk in four European bioregions: Atlantic, Mediterranean, Central and Northern Europe.
The severity of wildfires in the countries affected is increasing. Some wildfires show extreme behaviour that surpasses the capacity of emergency responders and has devastating impacts on nature and society. Furthermore, more and more wildfires are occurring in areas not typically associated with them, such as temperate Europe. This, together with high population, tourism from non-fire countries to fire countries and overall low awareness and preparedness under the current climate change conditions, is turning wildfire risk management particularly complex and challenging.
To effectively reduce disaster risk, there must be a shift from suppression to Integrated Fire Management (IFM). This approach emphasises all phases of the management cycle, from prevention to restoration and adaptation, and acknowledges the valuable role of fire in the landscape and as a tool to prevent undesired wildfires and contribute to the livelihood and cultural identity of local communities.
In this context, wildfire education is key for understanding and supporting disaster risk reduction through IFM. SparklePlay envisions a society that knows how to prepare for and respond to wildfires while understanding the ecological value of fire and recognising the variety of wildfires. Believing that the most engaging way to learn is by playing, SparkleFire aims to develop a set of serious games to raise awareness of wildfire risk and foster a culture of prevention and preparedness among a range of end users, from primary and secondary students to professional stakeholders, both at individual and entity levels.
The serious games SparkleFire prototype include: (1) A board game to understand the drivers of fire occurrence and behaviour (ignition, fuels and weather), adapted to the four European bioregions. This game will be available physically and online, and in five languages (English, Portuguese, Dutch, Catalan and Finnish); (2) a building game with interlocking plastic blocks to learn about landscape management and wildfire prevention; and (3) creation of a Minecraft landscape focusing on landscape and fire management to promote mosaic landscapes and traditional practices. Throughout the life of the project, there will be pilots aimed at testing the games and improving them to tailor to diverse learning needs. The project will also carry out an analysis of existing wildfire games and generate guidelines for teachers to integrate the games into the school curriculum.
The SparkleFire consortium is led by Wageningen University & Research and composed of five institutions from three countries in temperate and Mediterranean Europe that represent research, municipalities, non-profit and volunteer organisations, and sectors such as academia, practice and communication: Wageningen University & Research, the Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalunya, the Municipality of Paredes de Coura, the Pau Costa Foundation, and VOST Portugal.
Effective risk prevention and reduction can only take place through a good understanding and perception of risk levels. Using games for wildfire education constitutes an emerging field, and SparkleFire is innovating through a creative approach to wildfire awareness and education to achieve meaningful change. In the short term, the project hopes to promote dialogue, discussion and engagement on wildfire-related topics. In the medium term, SparkleFire seeks to provide a foundation for cultivating a wildfire risk-aware culture among members and participating states of UPCM. Over the long term, the project aims to enhance citizen preparedness and prevention efforts.
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Sectors
Education & Training
Thematic series
Prevention and preparedness activities