Ideas shared on France–Australia bushfire science

An online workshop has contributed to the open sharing of knowledge and expertise between Australian and French fire experts. The Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, in partnership with the French Embassy in Australia, the Group of Eight, and Safe Cluster in France, held the three-day France–Australia Bushfire Science Workshop in mid-September to promote and extend the important collaboration of bushfire research between the two countries. Replay each session here.

The event was opened by the Ambassador of France to Australia, Christophe Penot, who highlighted the benefits of France and Australia collaborating to tackle this global crisis.

“As much as the operational solidarity can be strengthened, our scientific capabilities can also benefit from more intense exchanges and information sharing,” Ambassador Penot said.

“France and Australia have a lot to learn from each other and this is exactly the purpose of the workshop – to share our tools, our knowledge and our strength in order to respond in the best possible way to the forthcoming global changes that will affect us all.”

The virtual workshop enabled more than 40 French and Australian researchers, including key researchers, policymakers, government officials and agency representatives, to share their knowledge with an international audience of around 100 people.  Like Australia, France and other parts of Europe have recently experienced devastating bushfires and the workshop provided an opportunity to share practices and knowledge on how to reduce the global and local impact of such damaging events.

Prof Margaret Gardner, Chair of the Group of Eight, praised the benefits of expert collaboration and emphasised the importance of recognising bushfires as a global crisis.

“Knowledge has no borders,” Prof Gardner said.

“It works across countries and it’s best when it’s given wings by international collaboration, by experts talking with experts across boundaries, sharing what they understand.

“If we have ever needed ways of preventing these sorts of conflagrations – which are embedded in climate change but which go to how we build models to work, prevent, mitigate and repair the significant damage that occurs to people and environments – we need it now.”

With six expert panels across three days, panelists discussed bushfire science, the different emergency responses at the time of a bushfire crisis, ways that both countries draw on research for bushfire innovation, different methods of risk reduction and landscape management, health and tourism costs of fire, environmental restoration and any new challenges they are facing.

It was clear from discussions at the workshop that there are many similarities in the ways that Australia, France and French territories manage bushfire, and therefore many opportunities to share knowledge and practices more efficiently.

Vicki Thomson, Chief Executive of the Group of Eight, chairing the panel on the Hidden Costs of Bushfires, explained that this event was originally planned as a face-to-face research roundtable between the French government and researchers, which developed across the dinner table while in Paris in January.

“We were then just in the aftermath of our own bushfires of 2019/20. I was in discussion with our Ambassador at a dinner and he talked about the good will from the European community and this desire to actually do something, obviously in addition to the assistance we had already received from French firefighters. And of course here we are doing it in the midst of another disaster in the COVID-19 context,” Thomson said.

Dr Richard Thornton, CEO of the CRC, hosted the final panel, which focused on specific opportunities for connection and ongoing collaboration.

“The CRC has been trying to foster these sorts of collaborations for many years now and this will continue as we transition into the new centre, announced in July of this year. It’s really important that we work together. We’re happy to help wherever possible, especially now that we’ve developed these relationships, so come and talk to us if you need connections,” he said.

You can watch recordings and access presentations from all panels here.

CRC researchers included:

• Dr Jeff Kepert (Bureau of Meteorology)
• Prof Jason Sharples (University of New South Wales)
• Dr Marta Yebra (Australian National University)
• Prof Alan March (University of Melbourne)
• Dr Veronique Florec (University of Western Australia)
• Prof Lisa Gibbs (University of Melbourne)
• A/Prof Tina Bell (University of Sydney)
• Prof Holger Maier (University of Adelaide).

Other Australian partners included:

• Prof Matthew Gilliham (University of Adelaide, Group of Eight)
• Dr Stuart Matthews (NSW Rural Fire Service)
• Alen Slijepcevic (Country Fire Authority)
• Dr Adam Leavesley (ACT Parks Service)
• Prof Robyn Langham (Monash University, Group of Eight)
• Michelle Ward (University of Queensland)
• Vicki Thomson (Group of Eight)
• A/Prof Gabby Walters (University of Queensland)
• Prof Kathy Belov (University of Sydney)
• Prof Nerilie Abram (Australian National University)
• Sarah Brown (Office of Australia’s Chief Scientist)

French partners included:

• Boris Toucas (French Embassy)
• Colonel Bruno Ulliac (General Directorate for Civil Protection and Crisis Management)
• Jean-Baptiste Filippi (Laboratoire Sciences Pour L’Environnement)
• Prof Paul-Antoine Santoni (University of Corsica)
• Solène Turquety (Laboratory for Dynamic Meteorology)
• Sebastian Lahaye (Safe Cluster)
• Eric Rigolot (French National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment - Avignon)
• Ondine Le Fur (French National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment – Aix-en-Provence)
• Dr Antoine Belgodere (Univ corse)
• Dr Pierre Souvet (Association Health and Environment)
• Dr Adam Ali (University of Montpellier)
• Dr Florent Mouillot (Centre D’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive)
• Dr Adrien Bertaud (Observatory for the Environment in New Caledonia)
• Fabien Albouy (Observatory for the Environment in New Caledonia)
• Nishant Shandilya (Euraxess)
• Nathalie Simenel (French Embassy)
• Thierry Corrège (French Embassy)

EDITED STATEMENTS FROM THE WORKSHOP:

Christophe Penot, Ambassador of France to Australia:
I’m very pleased and honoured to welcome you to this bushfire workshop, and as we slowly become aware of the impact of human activities on our environment, the dire effects of climate change are clearly visible.

This year, the world is once again experiencing severe climate and environmental crisis. On a global scale, 2020 has been the second hottest year ever recorded and we have seen Australia’s forests burn as never before. Fires in California and the Amazon have grown in number and intensity and even the southern areas of France have been severely hit by fires.

In the context of accelerated climate change, our scientific observations and models warn us that we’re going to endure even more extreme events in future. In mid-latitudes, heatwaves will probably become more intense and more frequent. Some areas of the world, such as Mediterranean and southern Australia will experience more extreme drought.

Because these challenges will pose a threat to France and Australia alike, addressing them together will benefit both countries.

As much as the operational solidarity can be strengthened, our scientific capabilities can also benefit from more intense exchanges and information sharing. Science of course is crucial to better forecast the future and make the best decisions during the forthcoming crisis. This is why this workshop is such an excellent and important initiative.

France and Australia have a lot to learn from each other and this is exactly the purpose of the workshop – to share our tools, our knowledge and our strength in order to respond in the best possible way to the forthcoming global changes that will affect us all.

Professor Margaret Gardner AC, Monash University, Group of Eight:
I know that this is a great opportunity to bring researchers together from across Australia and France to look at how we can extendour knowledge and capability in addressing bushfires. That is the basis of this workshop, and why the Group of Eight is so happy to be involve.

To improve that capability and to know that the way we improve our capability and responses to this issue is by knowing that knowledge has no borders. It works across countries and it’s best when it’s given wings by international collaboration, by experts talking with experts across boundaries and sharing what they understand, giving life through practice and translation of their knowledge.

At the end of 2019, Black Summer fires in Australia resulted in the loss of 33 lives, 300 homes and billions of animals, and extensive damage to the whole natural environment. And I know that southern France has also experienced significant bushfires in 2019.

If we have ever needed ways of preventing these sorts of conflagrations – which are embedded in climate change but which go to how we build models to work, prevent, mitigate and repair the significant damage that happens to people and environments – we need it now. We need all of your expertise.

I know that expertise has been central to the collaborations that have been built across countries in dealing with this phenomenon. I want to commend everyone who has engaged in this research. It’s the ongoing research that informs the ways we might innovate to prevent the increasing scale of these fires.

Dr Richard Thornton, CEO, Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC:
One of our aims is to grow the networks of researchers that can start to address some of the complex problems we are seeing, particularly around the impacts of climate change, and changing environment factors and demographics. We’ve always tried to link the research of Australians with those overseas and this is a great opportunity to do that.

It’s been a great three days, showing that it’s possible to collaborate over long distances and across time zones. We’ve only touched on a select few of the many important research areas in this workshop, but there are many others that equally deserve to be worked on together. It’s clear that the challenges that Australia face are also being experienced by the US and Europe. It’s really important that we do start to work together, especially now that we’ve developed these relationships with the Group of Eight, the French Embassy and French researchers. We’re happy to help wherever possible, so come and talk to us if you need connections.