Landscape management in the Wildland-Urban Interface to reduce future wildfire vulnerability for communities — What are the barriers to change?

Over the past 10 years, our civil defense has been stretched beyond breaking point as forest fires have threatened people's lives, health and property as well as infrastructure and the landscape's ecosystem services.

An increased future load and threat is expected as climate change points to a longer vegetation fire season in northern Europe. An emerging strategy for protecting the built environment against forest fires is the strategic management of the natural environment near buildings. Deciduous tree elements have a multifunctional mitigating effect on the spread and intensity of fires, and management of open shrub and grassland landscapes can significantly reduce the force of fires. At the same time, climate adaptation measures affect the population's recreational use of landscapes near buildings and their sense of belonging to the local environment.

The project aims to understand how management of nature near buildings contributes to climate adaptation by reducing the vulnerability of the built environment to fires without reducing its socio-ecological quality. Organizational, social and biophysical perspectives on deciduous tree species, open space management and land planning are integrated to shed light on local decision-making, how tree species selection and other management measures reduce the vulnerability of buildings and how changes in landscape management affect residents and people's use of the landscape. We use the knowledge to identify barriers to implementing climate adaptation measures and opportunities for effective solutions.