ARC Laureate Fellowship Practical and Sustainable pathways to community coexistence with bushfires

This 5-year project addresses an urgent national and global challenge to policy and practice: the escalating risk of bushfire disasters. It aims to develop adaptation pathways so Australian communities can co-exist safely and sustainably with intrinsically flammable landscapes, through an innovative integration of historical, social, economic, and biophysical lines of research. In collaboration with local councils, fire-management agencies, Aboriginal communities contributing traditional knowledge, and world-leading fire scientists, it is expected to deliver benefit through insights into the drivers of fire disaster, concrete outcomes such as optimal preventive and mitigation strategies, and greatly improved community understanding and involvement.

This project integrates methods from a broad range of biophysical sciences and the humanities, to achieve a holistic understanding of the causes of bushfire disasters. It is intended to enable development of cost-effective interventions and public education campaigns, unrestricted by disciplinary boundaries, to solve the practical problem of adapting to bushfire risks.