SAFERS

SAFERS “Structured Approaches for Forest fire Emergencies in Resilient Societies”

Forest fires are exacerbated by extreme weather conditions, which are increasing both in frequency and in magnitude due to climate change effects. Globally, massive fires have swept through forests and other landscapes in an alarming rate, resulting in the loss of human lives, destruction of homes and biodiversity, and emitting millions of tons of CO2 together with other pollutants in addition to other destructive impacts. Therefore, the need of effective management of forest fire emergencies has become very crucial especially during a pandemic. To respond to this global challenge, the European Union is funding the SAFERS project ‘Structured Approaches for Forest fire Emergencies in Resilient Societies’ which kicks off this month for a period of 3 years in a mission to support societies becoming more resilient across the key phases of the forests fires emergency management cycle. SAFERS will combine very large amount of data from satellites, innovative sensors, social media posts, smart apps for emergency staff, volunteers, and citizens, and existing database into a unique platform powered by Artificial Intelligence algorithms, e.g. deep learning; to facilitate the emergency management.

SAFERS is a new innovative project co-funded under the EU Horizon 2020 programme for a period of 3 years with a budget of 3.3 million euros. The project is coordinated by LINKS foundation, located at Torino, Italy, and brings together 14 partners coming from 7 European countries: Italy, Greece, Finland, Germany, United Kingdom, France and Spain. The project hosts its virtual kick-off meeting on October 8th and 9th 2020 in the presence of the EU project officer and advisory board members from different leading organisations in the field.