Fire Eaters: Exploring Consumer Preferences for Labeling Extensive Livestock Products Providing Wildfire Prevention Services

Extensive livestock grazing has proved to be a valuable tool to reduce wildfire risk in Mediterranean landscapes. Meat from herds providing wildfire prevention services exhibit sustainability traits that can appeal to ethical consumers and find a suitable niche in local markets. This study assesses the preferences of a consumer sample in the province of Girona (north-eastern Spain) for different lamb meat labeling options from herds providing wildfire prevention services. The aim is to disentangle consumer profiles, providing evidence for improved product labeling. This may increase the added value and the viability of small farms providing this service. Employing a latent class modeling approach, we explore how meat consumption patterns and socioeconomic features may contribute to explain preferences for different meat labeling options. Our results have identified three consumer profiles: traditional rural consumers relying on trust with producers, younger consumers more akin to new labeling schemes, and urban consumers that support local butchers as a trusted information source. Different labeling mechanisms may work in a complementary way to arrive to different audiences of potential consumers. Geographical indication labels can serve as a good departure point, complemented with information cues on environmental factors related to wildfire protection.K.U. was supported by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie ITN (PyroLife-860787

Smouldering combustion dynamics of a soil from a Pinus halepensis Mill. forest. A case study of the Rocallaura fires in Northeastern Spain

This study analyses the smouldering combustion on soils that took place during the wildfires that occurred in Rocallaura (Northeastern Spain). The smouldering combustion after the first event, 23 June, was the potential source of flaming fire re-ignition of the second event, 19 July 2016. Re-ignitions are an important challenge for the firefighting system. Budget and e orts are spent on controlling these re-ignitions that can ultimately cause the collapse of the response system if the re-ignitions happen during periods of simultaneous fire events. Our objective is to contribute to better understand the dynamics of the smouldering combustion of organic soils associated with these wildfires and the impact on the Pinus halepensis Mill. forest ecosystem. Transects were established in adjacent control and post-fire zones. Laboratory analyses were conducted to determine some physical and chemical properties of both the du and mineral soil. Using these variables, we estimate thresholds of du ignition probability, percentage of du consumption and smouldering combustion spread rates. Overall, we provide a set of tools for evaluating re-ignitions in forest ecosystems. We conclude that the concept of fire persistence should be a new variable for consideration in present and future analysis of fire regimes and demonstrates the significance of introducing smouldering combustion and re-ignition within the strategic framework of the wildfire hazard and integrating these phenomena into forest planning and management

How to speak the same language: key ideas from the forum on Catalan wildfire research

Postprint (published version

Instrument teacher as a supporter of youth growth

The subject of this study was music as a tool of growth for young person and teacher´s resources in supporting it. The goal was to increase the knowledge of the theory of youth progress, music school as a growing environment, teacher´s role as a supporter of youth growth and music as a servant in young person. The function of this work was also to view the use of methods of musicotherapy as tools in teaching an instrument. The methods of increasing the knowledge were processing the subject with literature, experience and a query for music students. The result was combining the procedures of music therapy and teaching an instrument, researching teacher´s possibilities to support youth growth, researching music´s function as a tool of growth for young person and taking a view in theory of youth progress. The knowhow, which developed as a result of this study, can be applied to teaching young and in development of music school.Työn aihepiiri oli musiikki kasvun välineenä nuorella ja opettajan keinot kasvun tukemisessa. Työn tavoitteena oli lisätä tietämystä nuoren kehityksen teoriasta, musiikkiopistosta kasvupaikkana, opettajan roolista nuoren kasvun tukijana sekä musiikista kehitystehtävien palvelijana nuorella. Työn tarkoitus oli myös tarkastella musiikkiterapeuttisten menetelmien hyödyntämismahdollisuuksia instrumentinopetuksessa. Tietoa pyrittiin lisäämään käsittelemällä aihetta kirjallisuuden, oman kokemuksen sekä tiedon havainnollistamiseksi musiikin ammattiopiskelijoille tehdyn kyselyn pohjalta. Työn tuloksena saatiin yhdistettyä musiikkiterapian ja instrumentinopetuksen toimintatapoja, selvitettyä opettajan vaikutusmahdollisuuksia nuoren kasvun tukemiseen, selvitettyä musiikin toimintaa kasvun välineenä nuorella sekä luotua katsaus nuoruuden kehitysteoriaan. Työn tuloksena syntynyttä tieto-taitoa voi soveltaa opetustyössä sekä musiikkioppilaitoksen kehittämistyössä

Effects of Fire on the Organic and Chemical Properties of Soil in a Pinus halepensis Mill. Forest in Rocallaura, NE Spain

The present study was conducted following a fire that took place in Rocallaura (NE Iberian Peninsula) in 23 June 2016 with the aim of analyzing the chemical properties of soil in burnt and unburnt areas in order to determine the short-term effects of fire on an ecosystem dominated by Pinus halepensis Mill. Transects were laid out in a control area and an adjacent burnt area. Laboratory analyses were performed to determine the chemical properties of the organic and mineral soil layers at 5 cm and 10 cm (total carbon, total nitrogen, organic and inorganic carbon, carbonates, pH, electrical conductivity, and major cations). The results show partial combustion of the organic substrate, with a significant increase in TC, OC, TN, EC and K+, and a slight decrease in pH in the post-fire area compared to the control area, demonstrating that the fire was of low intensity and did not generate significant short-term negative impacts on the soil. Soils of this type, with high organic matter content, tend to maintain their structure after a low-intensity fire and retain the nutrients necessary for ecosystem recovery and resilience

Territories in Transition: how social contexts influence wildland fire adaptive capacity in rural Northwestern European Mediterranean areas

Background: Rural and semi-rural areas are complex and dynamic social-ecological systems, many of which have experienced profound impacts from wildland fires, particularly this decade. Under uncertain climate change conditions, these areas require new adaptive strategies to support landscape and community resilience. While these areas vary widely, some patterns of local social context have become apparent through wildland fire research. These patterns can help decision-makers better understand what influences communities’ abilities to adapt to fire. We focused our study on a northwestern European Mediterranean context, where communities are adapting to wildland fire and other climate change impacts through varied programs and policies. This area is composed of diverse landscapes, cultures, histories, languages and governance structures, but it also shares fire-based learning networks and collaborations, providing a sound indicator of shared elements of social context. Our study analyzed local social contexts in rural areas of Spain, Italy and France and assessed how these may inform adaptive capacity to wildland fire. A two-step process achieved this: (1) a targeted literature review of local social context elements as they relate to wildland fire in Mediterranean Europe; and (2) conducting semi-structured interviews with 20 key experts in rural Mediterranean areas, including fire managers, foresters, local administrators and technicians. Results: Results illustrate numerous shared patterns in rural social contexts that influence local fire adaptive capacity. Dynamic local relationships among residents, local fire knowledge and environmental movements, the role of fire managers and administrators, and embeddedness in broader sociopolitical trends all interconnect to influence local fire adaptive capacity. Some key elements of context can act as primary enablers or barriers to this process, such as the presence (or lack) of local fire knowledge, and the opportunity (or lack thereof) for sustainable local economic development. Results also demonstrate high diversity in terms of governance structures and development trajectories. Conclusions: We argue the need for deepened empirical transdisciplinary research to connect fire and land management tailored to local characteristics. Centering these local perspectives and diverse cultural values is necessary to foster long term adaptive wildland fire management strategies in rural Mediterranean communities and globally

Fire Flocks: Participating Farmers’ Perceptions after Five Years of Development

Nowadays, extensive livestock farming faces substantial threats in the Mediterranean region, provoking a setback dynamic in the sector. In 2016, the Fire Flocks (FF) project was conceived and implemented as a regional strategy to revert this situation and revalue the sector in Catalonia, in the NE of the Iberian Peninsula. FF promotes forest management through extensive livestock farming, and more specifically silvopastoralism, to reduce vegetation load and wildfire risk. The initiative also works on fire risk awareness with the aim of promoting extensive livestock products through FF label and valorization strategies. Five years after its initial implementation, the project managers detected several weaknesses and potential improvements directly affecting the economic and environmental performance of the participating farms. It was therefore considered necessary to conduct targeted qualitative interviews with the farmers participating in the project in order to gather their opinions on the project’s functioning and further steps. To this end, 17 farmers were interviewed with the aid of a qualitative questionnaire. The farmers stated that although FF is not providing them with any direct financial benefits, it does present an opportunity to belong to a group of farmers working on wildfire prevention, thereby lending them a voice as a group, and reaching more social visibility. The qualitative analyses elucidate key elements to be promoted in FF, such as redesign of the operational structure, expansion to a regional scale and action lines to facilitate grazing activity

Fire Flocks: Participating Farmers’ Perceptions after Five Years of Development

Nowadays, extensive livestock farming faces substantial threats in the Mediterranean region, provoking a setback dynamic in the sector. In 2016, the Fire Flocks (FF) project was conceived and implemented as a regional strategy to revert this situation and revalue the sector in Catalonia, in the NE of the Iberian Peninsula. FF promotes forest management through extensive livestock farming, and more specifically silvopastoralism, to reduce vegetation load and wildfire risk. The initiative also works on fire risk awareness with the aim of promoting extensive livestock products through FF label and valorization strategies. Five years after its initial implementation, the project managers detected several weaknesses and potential improvements directly affecting the economic and environmental performance of the participating farms. It was therefore considered necessary to conduct targeted qualitative interviews with the farmers participating in the project in order to gather their opinions on the project’s functioning and further steps. To this end, 17 farmers were interviewed with the aid of a qualitative questionnaire. The farmers stated that although FF is not providing them with any direct financial benefits, it does present an opportunity to belong to a group of farmers working on wildfire prevention, thereby lending them a voice as a group, and reaching more social visibility. The qualitative analyses elucidate key elements to be promoted in FF, such as redesign of the operational structure, expansion to a regional scale and action lines to facilitate grazing activity

Organización de actos y protocolo, febrero 2013

Recurs d'aprenentatge de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.Recurso de aprendizaje de la "Universitat Oberta de Catalunya".Learning material of the "Universitat Oberta de Catalunya"

Organització d'actes i protocol, febrer 2013

Recurs d'aprenentatge de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.Recurso de aprendizaje de la "Universitat Oberta de Catalunya".Learning material of the "Universitat Oberta de Catalunya"