No dia 10 de dezembro, Michele Dalla Fontana (bolseiro Marie Curie na Universidade de Wageningen e investigador visitante do ICS) será o orador convidado do Seminário do Grupo de Investigação SHIFT sobre o tema Exploring the Relationship Between Human Mobility and Wildfire Risks in Portugal's Changing Rural Landscapes.

Wildfires are an escalating threat in many regions, with 2024 seeing major incidents in Brazil, Chile, California, Portugal, and Greece, among others. While climate change is often cited as a key driver of wildfire frequency and intensity, human activity— particularly land management practices — plays an equally significant role. Rural depopulation and the abandonment of agricultural and forestry activities have transformed many European landscapes, leading to an accumulation of combustible vegetation and, consequently, greater wildfire risk. Although the link between rural abandonment and wildfire proliferation is well-documented, less attention has been paid to the experiences of those who remain in fire-prone areas or newcomers who settle there. This study applies an environmental mobility lens — a field of research that explores how environmental conditions influence human im/mobility and how human movements, in turn, affect ecosystems — to examine the relationship between human mobility and wildfire risk in Portugal. Focusing on the Pinhal Interior Norte region, devastated by the 2017 wildfires, the research employs ethnographic methods, including interviews with long-term residents and recent migrants, to investigate why and how people choose to stay, leave, or relocate to fire-vulnerable areas. The findings confirm that rural abandonment, common in Portugal and other parts of Europe, contributes to landscape changes that heighten wildfire risk. However, new patterns of human im/mobility may offer opportunities for landscape restoration and wildfire risk mitigation. This study ultimately contributes to understanding how human factors — particularly mobility and cultural connections to the land—influence both vulnerability and adaptive responses to wildfire risk.

 A partir das 11h, na Sala 3 no ICS-ULisboa e online.