The ‘Optimisation and Wildfire’ conference, organised by the O3F project team – ‘An Optimisation Framework for Reducing Forest Fire’ (funded by FCT, Principal Investigator: Filipe Alvelos), in which the University of Minho, Aveiro and Lisbon participate, took place in Luso from 1 to 4 October.

The conference had 58 participants from 14 countries, 46 of whom gave presentations. The topics covered were diverse, including fuel management and optimising suppression tactics.

The opening session was attended by Tiago Oliveira, President of AGIF – Agência para Gestão Integrada dos Fogos Rurais, and Pedro Arezes, President of the School of Engineering at the University of Minho.

The three guest speakers, David Martell, from the University of Toronto, Yu Wei, from Colorado State University, and José Borges, from the University of Lisbon, addressed the perspective of Operational Research in fire management, the importance of spatial modelling and uncertainty in supporting decision-making, and the role of risk and uncertainty in management on a territorial scale.

David Martell, one of the most important figures in the field, said it was a unique conference worldwide, of excellent quality and at the right time, given that it was an emerging topic.