Proactive Human Response to Wildfires Outbreak: Measure and Prepare for it
The aim of the suggested project is to exchange experiences and good practices in order to improve regional policies for coping with fires right after their outbreak in very sensitive areas, like the forest ones.
Since regional policies in terms of environmental protection and risk prevention constitute a vital issue towards the accomplishment of the Gothenburg Strategy, local and regional authorities in EU need to further work towards a more close and effective cooperation on such issues. This project, based on previously related activities focused on risk management, intends to move further and deal with exchange of experiences and good practices on methods, action plans or even tools, addressing the forest fires danger and crisis management right after the outbreak of a fire, and in particular, a wild one. Thus, the whole work is going to be analysed from the viewpoint of the readiness to act promptly and efficiently in order to avoid as much as possible huge
human, animal and agricultural losses, as well as forest disasters.

Towards this perspective, a booklet entitled "Wildfires' Survival Guide for All",  tackling issues such as, correct, focused (or personalised) and on-time information and preparation of the population to confront the outbreak of a fire, will be published. Well-structured education programs and training sessions for effective areas' evacuation to avoid as much as possible human and animal losses, as well as strategic emergency response exercises to achieve rapid restoration of the affected areas, will be developed. A handbook named “Wildfires Response: Best Cases Study Collection” and the "Benchmarking on Readiness Indicators" conclusions will take the form of official policy documents in order to become the common base for the future adoption and application of such practices. Furthermore, the above results could also be proved useful to other similar regions of the EU and be used as a "reference" document
for the improvement of the commonly agreed policies on the aforementioned issues inside the EU.
For the benefit of the validation of the “Wildfires Response: Best Cases Study Collection” and the simulations and contingency planning that will be elaborated, exersices on selected sites inside the forestry areas of the participants' territories will be implemented.

A successful procedure for the widespread dissemination of the results will be followed. Towards this goal, the organisation of the final conference in the historical site of Ancient Olympia, deeply suffered by wildfires last summer, will act as a pan-European meeting on improvement policies for proactive human response to wildfires outbreak. A DVD with comprehensive content, info-corners in focal points of the partners' target areas and the set-up of an information site, acting as the main information area concerning awareness-raising and emergency response for the population, will guarantee the sustainability of the results.