David Bruce, Natural Hazards Research Australia, 25 May 2022
A good conference has depth and breadth. Fire and Climate 2022 in Melbourne in two weeks’ time will provide both in what will be one of the first in-person conferences for many in our sector in a long while.
Fire and Climate 2022 (Pullman Melbourne, Albert Park, Monday 6 to Friday 10 June 2022) is an International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF) conference on Fuels and Fire Behaviour, Human Dimensions and Safety Summit, in the tradition of past IAWF conferences. The same conference, but with a separate program, is happening in California this week.
As Natural Hazards Research Australia establishes itself in its first year, this conference presented a timely opportunity for us to focus on some – not all – of the bigger issues we all face in dealing with natural hazards under climate change.
The depth is in the eight keynote presenters in Melbourne – all leaders in the science, politics and operations of fire and climate, plus expert panels on Indigenous and cultural burning in Australia and North America and on fire science communications, plus almost 100 research and practice presentations from subject matter experts.
Joining us as partners in Fire and Climate 2022 are AFAC, the Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO and the Melbourne Convention Bureau. Sector partners include Victoria’s Country Fire Authority and Forest Fire Management Victoria, NSW Rural Fire Service, NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, the National Recovery and Resilience Agency, Minderoo Foundation, Eco Logical Australia, and internationals NASA, the US Forest Service, US DOI Office of Wildland Fire, Association for Fire Ecology and Pau Costa Foundation. Others have booths in the exhibit hall.
The breadth comes in the five-day program that brings the science alive with two pre-conference workshops and a seminar on Monday 6 June and two field trips on Friday 10 June.
Workshop 1 at the Bureau of Meteorology headquarters in Melbourne – Red Sunday 8 January 2040 – will imagine a realistic extreme fire weather day occurring in Australia in the midterm future (2040), based on latest high resolution climate projections.
Workshop 2 – Changing Climate, Changing Practices – will be hosted by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and looks at how the complexities of a changing climate challenge the way we collaborate, partner and engage with communities and each other.
Seminar – Implementing the Australian Fire Danger Rating System. In September, a new fire danger rating system will replace the current McArthur forest and grass fire danger ratings. This seminar, hosted by AFAC and the NSW Rural Fire Service, will discuss the ins and outs of the new system.
Field Trip 1 – Strategic Fuel Breaks in High Bushfire Risk Landscapes – will anchor off a strategic fuel break completed in 2021 on the Great Ocean Road to show how bushfire risk modelling and local knowledge helps a complex planned burning program, coupled with the operational realities of firefighting in a busy tourist area.
Field Trip 2 – Forest Fire Research – will provide insights into forest fire research at the University of Melbourne, from laboratory experiments to field-based studies, to better understand impacts of fuel management techniques, fire behaviour and risks. The full-day tour begins with a visit to a Fire Effects Study Area site in the Wombat Forest, followed by a stop at a mulching site near Creswick.
So, book in a workshop, listen to the experts, network with new colleagues, get on a bus out into the fire regions, and learn all about Fire and Climate 2022. See you there.
