ODET

Overview

Description

The risk of larger and more extreme events such as wildfires (extreme wildfire events - EWEs) is increasing across Europe, posing a significant threat to society, the environment and the safety of firefighters. The preparation and capacity building for extreme wildfire events is extremely challenging, especially for organisations that have not yet been exposed, or have had limited exposure, to those events. The ODET project represents a vital step in improving extreme wildfire event understanding by strategically providing empirical data from ongoing fires, advanced research, and innovative and user-centred tools that bridge the gap between knowledge and effective emergency response. The novel system proposes forecasts of the potential of a wildfire to develop extreme fire behaviour. To achieve that, innovative fire-atmosphere models are integrated to analyse a comprehensive database of past and virtual wildfires. Emergency response organisations feed the system with wildfire observations, and the database is complemented with virtual fires to simulate additional complex scenarios. Moreover, a set of capacity-building tools is developed for enhancing the uptake of new science and knowledge by emergency managers. This includes guidelines, training courses, training materials and recommendations for institutional capacity building. The uniqueness of the wildfire data system supports emergency response organisations across Europe by: 1) accessing easy-to-use tools designed by emergency responders for emergency responders, 2) providing knowledge to organisations with limited exposure to extreme wildfires, through accessing the novel knowledge hub (e.g. Central- Northern-Europe), and 3) strengthening Europe’s capacities to advance in the science and innovation related to extreme wildfire events. ODET’s co-design user-oriented approach enables integration and operationalisation of knowledge, to provide a practical and in-demand solution for emergency managers, significantly improving overall the extreme wildfire events management capabilities and interoperability.

Project content

News

ODET kicks off to boost Europe’s preparedness for extreme wildfires

ODET launches to boost Europe’s preparedness for extreme wildfire behaviour, delivering data-driven tools, modelling and training for decision-making.

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Outputs & results

Partner organisations