What is a ‘Whole-of-Society’ Approach to Wildfire? POLIS Wildfire Resilience Project Launches New Lightning Explainer Series
What is a whole-of-society approach? And how can it help reduce catastrophic wildfires?
These questions were the starting point for creating the latest brief published by the POLIS Wildfire Resilience Project, based at the University of Victoria’s Centre for Global Studies.
The short explainer, titled Wildfire and a Whole-of-Society Approach, is the first publication in POLIS’ new “Lightning Explainer” series, which will explore critical and emerging issues concerning wildfire resilience and inform governance and other reforms, including the need for deeper research and further investigations.
“Our goal with this first explainer — and with the Lightning Explainer series in general — is to not only increase understanding, but to stimulate discussion and dialogue around landscape and wildfire resilience,” said co-author Andrea Barnett, project facilitator and analyst at the POLIS Wildfire Resilience Project.
In the face of increasingly catastrophic wildfires, there is urgent need for additional resources, capacity and capability, efforts, and expertise to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of wildfire impacts on community safety, watershed security, and ecosystem health.
“The increasing scale and challenge of the wildfire crisis requires a response of similar magnitude,” said lead author Oliver M. Brandes, project lead at the POLIS Wildfire Resilience Project. “We need robust action both within and beyond the provincial government — action that extends to key players outside of government and broader societal engagement.”
The authors describe the importance of a coordinated response that involves the provincial government in collaboration with Indigenous, local, and federal governments, industry, civil society, practitioners, local experts, and communities.
“A whole-of-society approach to wildfire will foster innovation, local agency, and broader accountability — ultimately resulting in better outcomes on the ground,” said Oliver M. Brandes. “In our view, the provincial government is a crucial catalyst for unlocking this more collaborative, and ultimately innovative, approach.”
As described in the brief, an expanded whole-of-society approach to wildfire will create opportunities for new players and potential new roles in the areas of:
- Ecosystem-based fuel management.
- Increased prescribed and cultural burning.
- Community engagement, trust building, and education.
- Harm reduction through, for example, programs like FireSmart.
- Place-based, landscape-level, and community-based pilots and plans.
Future POLIS research on a whole-of-society approach will examine the specifics how best to enable such a model of distributed and shared authority in B.C. Future Lightning Explainers will explore topics including, carbon, conservation, fuel management and impacts on watershed security, economics, and health.
Click Here to Download the Explainer
Resilience and “whole-of-society” approach are clear priorities to address emerging wildfire reality in B.C.
Victoria, B.C. lək̓ʷəŋən territory: British Columbia needs to adopt a “whole-of-society” approach to advance wildfire resilience, say the authors of an investigation into the current state of wildfire prevention, mitigation, response, and recovery in the province.
“The scale of the challenge we face as a society requires a response of similar magnitude,” said Doug Donaldson, report co-author and former B.C. Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. “We know that concern is mounting across society when it comes to the threat and impacts of wildfires.”
Wildfires set provincial records in four of the last six years, with more than six million hectares burned, more than 200,000 people displaced, and nearly $3 billion spent in direct forest firefighting in 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2023 combined. The 2024 wildfire season is already off to a very early start with residents under evacuation order or alert in communities in northeast, northwest, and central B.C.
Released today, Learning to Live with Fire: State of Wildfire in B.C.—Policy, Programs & Priorities is the first publication from the new POLIS Wildfire Resilience Project at the University of Victoria’s Centre for Global Studies.
“Our analysis revealed a number of actions that don’t require further study that can be initiated and expanded on right now,” said Andrea Barnett, co-author and analyst at the POLIS Wildfire Resilience Project. “But it also revealed the need for a cross-cutting approach to address the wildfire challenge. The provincial government, Indigenous governments, federal and local governments, industry, researchers, and civil society are all integral to overall success.”
Actions that can be acted upon immediately include:
- Increasing the scale of current programs for fuel management, including prescribed fire and cultural fire.
- Harnessing the forest industry’s harvesting power to reduce fuels on the landscape.
- Promoting innovative, low-cost fuel management treatments.
- Expanding local wildfire governance initiatives.
With this primer, the authors focused on understanding and untangling the current policy and governance landscape in B.C. as it relates to wildfire. They explored the new wildland fire reality, highlighted implications for communities and ecosystems, and detailed current approaches to wildland fire management by taking a deep dive into governance, legislation, policies, and science.
“Our house is quite literally on fire, which is why resilience—the capacity to deal with change and continue to develop—is vital,” said co-author Oliver M. Brandes, co-director of the POLIS Project on Ecological Governance and project lead at the Wildfire Resilience Project. “What we do today will be the best insurance against what will certainly be more dangerous fires tomorrow. To create lasting solutions, we need to focus on the nexus of resilience and governance. We can’t delineate between the social and the ecological. It’s all connected.”
“Another important finding is the need for a whole-of-government provincial landscape resilience strategy,” said Doug Donaldson, who is a senior analyst at the POLIS Wildfire Resilience Project. “Such a strategy will help the provincial government better address the new wildfire reality, including the immediate challenges, identifying the leadership needed, and bringing broader changes to ensure wildfire resilience across B.C. It will be an important first step towards a ‘whole-of-society’ approach.”
— 30 —
Media contacts
Shayla Auld (POLIS Wildfire Resilience Project) at [email protected]
About the POLIS Wildfire Resilience Project
The POLIS Wildfire Resilience Project an action-based, interdisciplinary research team at the University of Victoria’s Centre for Global Studies. We offer practical solutions to advance wildfire resilience in British Columbia. As part of an international network, we focus on the nexus of resilience and governance, working with all levels of government, Indigenous nations, local communities, industry, experts, researchers, and civil society to offer new perspectives, innovative ideas, and practical solutions. The goal of the Wildfire Resilience Project is to create a more secure future for communities and ecosystems by promoting a wildfire regime that lies within nature’s limits and reduces catastrophic wildfires. Our work is rooted in the principles of ecological governance and resilience with a firm goal of strengthening watershed security. Over the coming years, we will imagine and promote a new B.C. wildfire management and governance regime that helps position B.C. as a leader in wildfire resilience.
