Exchange of community experiences for the prevention of forest fires

This field school , organised by Smart Forests and the Mar Adentro Foundation, was held on Tuesday, November 12, 2024 at the Pucón Campus of the Universidad de la Frontera. It consisted of a collective learning instance on stories, policies, practices, networks and technologies related to forest fires. It was intended to promote meetings for the formation of collaborative networks around the management and prevention of fires in Chile , among actors from various regions of the central and southern part of the country. In addition, we seek to reflect on the current and future territorial dynamics, to which we aspire as communities from different dimensions, in relation to the care of forests.

This is the second Field School carried out in Chile by Smart Forests, in the context of its case study on forest fires, which brought together actors who had already participated before as well as those identified and interviewed in recent months. This transdisciplinary instance brought together community leaders, key actors at local, regional and national levels, and professionals and researchers interested in the topics of Forest Fires, Disaster Risk Management , Conservation , Governance and Environmental Education. They were able to contribute with knowledge, experiences, information on decision-making processes and the transmission of ideas within their broader networks, especially in what is relevant to the creation and strengthening of instances of community organization in the face of fires and the visibility of resources for the formation of collaborative networks with various organizations and institutions covering different regions of the country, such as the Valparaiso, Metropolitan, Biobío, Ñuble and La Araucanía regions.

This meeting considered, unlike the first Field School held on April 11, 2024, an exhibition and virtual participation modality, which allowed the presence of actors from other locations who for various reasons could not attend Pucón on this date. For this, the exhibition and workshop activities were adapted to be implemented on the Zoom platform , through its Whiteboard tool.

The objective of the first Field School was to discuss and jointly propose practices and guidelines for the development of community fire prevention plans. In this second instance, although we also sought to share experiences on forest fire prevention practices, we also considered the approach of axes and dimensions identified from the interviews conducted in the ongoing research of the Smart Forests project on ' FireTech ' and community fire networks, which influence both the current territorial dynamics and those that we aspire to promote. Therefore, this instance also allowed us to present to the community the main learnings and challenges identified in this research.

The day was marked by three moments: 1) the exhibition of community and institutional experiences, 2) the Forest Fire as Planetarium game, co-creation of more than human stories about fire, and 3) the workshop on Social Mapping of forests and fire, from the real to the imagined.

The first part consisted of presentations of the work carried out by the Smart Forests Team in Chile during the last months, as well as the experiences of several community and institutional organizations focused on the prevention and combat of forest fires in Chile in the last few years. Among them, the Chucaw Mahuida Ecobrigade (Lampa, Metropolitan Region), Caritas Chile (Ñuble and Valparaiso Regions), and the Águila Sur Emergency Committee (Paine, Metropolitan Region).

As a Smart Forests team we share the lessons learned and challenges identified in our field work on experiences in the use of socio-environmental networks and technologies associated with forest fires in Chile. Thanks to the analysis of the information gathered in interviews, field visits and participation in activities, we identified key dimensions, grouped in three axes, which are related to the actions and relational dynamics, whose presence promotes or facilitates the approach to this issue in the territories.

In the Socio-community Axis, we identified the dimensions of governance, local-community leadership, formed networks or alliances and communications planning. In the Technology Axis, we visualized the importance of digital technologies , infrastructure or equipment, local practices and knowledge, as well as technical training instances. In the Climate Change Axis we address environmental education, conservation strategies and the perspective on sustainable futures .

Finally, we share some new questions that emerged in the process and that invite us to reflect and dialogue on these axes and dimensions. Some of these were "How to democratize the spaces of articulation of communities and other actors for the resolution of socio-environmental problems, promoting their resilience?", "What technologies (digital or other) are more conducive and consistent with local knowledge and practices for the care of socio-environmental environments in forests?", and "How to transform public policies and national regulations related to forest fires, territorial planning and productive matrix of the forest model, so that they are consistent with more sustainable and just futures?".

Afterwards, Loreto Márquez, a self-taught environmental educator and community forestry brigade member, together with Daniel Poblete, a future environmental technician, both park rangers from Altos de Chicauma and part of the Chukaw Mahuida EcoBrigade, presented the history of this community organization, the work they do and the different fire prevention and firefighting and environmental education activities they carry out. Then Pedro Contreras, Social Worker and Coordinator of Disaster Risk Management Projects of the Environment, Risk Management and Emergency Program of Caritas Chile, discussed the various community intervention processes that Caritas has led for the participatory reduction of the risk of forest fires in the regions of Valparaíso, Maule, Ñuble and Biobío. Finally, Leonardo Nuñez, president of the Águila Sur Ecological Community, Paine, Metropolitan Region, together with Alejandro Salinas, sociologist with experience in environmental education and local development projects in rural and urban communities, spoke about the Águila Sur Community Emergency Committee and the role of the brigade members in preventing and fighting fires, as well as the importance of family and participatory training, preparation and environmental education activities in their community.

All these presentations allowed the participants to approach the current contexts of forest fire prevention, mainly from the perspective of community experiences.

After the exhibits and a coffee break, we split into groups to get ready to play Forest Fire as Planetariuma card game created and designed by Bárbara Acevedo, a participant of the Pehuén Forest Residencies: Ecologies of Fire of Fundación Mar Adentro. Each group had the objective of answering one of the pre-selected questions, for which they had to choose from the deck of cards on each table, three concepts to use to formulate an answer through a story, poem or phrase. After each individual answer, each group shared their creations and had to organize themselves to unite and order the answers, thus co-creating a collective story with meaning. The questions addressed were associated with the feelings of the more-than-human beings that also inhabit the forests. These were: "What does the lizard imagine when the fire approaches?", "What does the araucaria think when it feels the inevitable proximity of the fire?" and "What does the quila perceive after the fire has passed?

Through this collective game, we were able to co-create stories about fire and forests, from a multi-species and more than human vision, which allowed participants to explore the relationships of the inhabitants of their territories. The stories are made up of sentences with a symbolic meaning and sequence, demonstrating the multiple perceptions and ways of thinking of the group with respect to the beings alluded to. The stories were posted on the wall of the room so that during the course of the event anyone could come and read them.

We asked Maya Errázuriz, Director of Art and Publications at Fundación Mar Adentro, about her perception of the game. Forest Fire as Planetarium and she commented: "I feel that at the beginning it generated a lot of curiosity, but then everyone started to let go very quickly and were very surprised with something so subtle and simple, with all the message that can be understood and how easy it was to put together a collective story in a very short time among people who did not know each other (...) It is a game that has a great capacity to generate these joint narratives in very diverse contexts and from different perspectives".

After the game, we moved on to the next participatory activity of the Field School, the workshop "Social Mapping of Fire and Forests: from the real to the imagined. Social Mapping of Fire and Forests: from the real to the imagined.". The objective of this was to explore the symbolic representations of the dynamics, relationships, practices and networks of the inhabitants with their territories, sharing as a group both the current state and the desired future of their territories and inhabitants, in terms of forest care and forest fire prevention. We decided to generate a participatory instance of subjective mapping, since, as proposed by the Iconoclasistas collective, from which we gathered ideas to create this methodology, "The construction of a map is a way to elaborate collective narratives around the common, making visible certain encounters and consensus without flattening the diversities".

For this, the first step involved the participants organizing themselves into groups, encouraging them to meet according to their territorial origin (same commune, province, region or zone). Individually, and by means of drawings, they responded to the following question How do you represent your territory and its inhabitants today, in terms of elements for the care of forests and the prevention of forest fires? These representations had to be encompassed, including elements where the socio-community, technological and sustainable futures dimensions are materialized in both, elements and actions to take care of forests and sources of forest fire risk. For this dynamic, we designed a sticker per dimension to accompany the drawings and more quickly identify the presence of these elements in the participants' representations.

The second step of the social mapping consisted of drawing on another sheet of paper the same territory with a desired or imagined future, considering all those elements that still need to be incorporated, transformed or deepened in each dimension and territory. The question addressed was How do you imagine your territory and its inhabitants in a better desired future, in terms of elements for forest care and forest fire prevention? In this exercise, although the majority drew a desired territory, there was an exceptional participant who commented that her current territory coincides with her desired territory.

Subsequently, each participant within each group had to share their drawings and the dimensions they showed, and then, among all of them, put together a collective and integrated territory with the territories drawn individually. In addition, to this kind of territorial collage they had to add collaborations with other territories and possible uses of technologies within them, understanding these as a means of transforming their realities to approach the imagined territories, that is, asking themselves how we can collaborate to promote the kind of development we aspire to improve in our territory.

Then, each group had to locate the mosaic of territories on the map of Chile, placed at the back of the room, answering the following question Where would they place their co-created territories on a map of the national territory? Then, observe, share and give feedback on the territories of other groups through comment stickers, using the following questions as a guide: Do you know experiences from other territories on forest care and forest fire prevention? What learnings and challenges emerge from those other experiences, and finally What collaborations with other territories could allow them to achieve the transformations they require? Along with this, participants from different territories were invited to agree on changes and add new elements among themselves.

To conclude the social mapping and the Field School, we held a plenary session where each group presented the final reflections of the exercise. In the different groups we were able to identify cultural, generational and experiential differences. Those participants associated with the Metropolitan Region group highlighted environmental education as an important dimension to achieve the desired futures, and the need to work with greater depth and participation in the dimension of water governance.

The latter was also repeated in the group from the Mallolafquen basin -Lake Villarrica-, Araucanía Region, where they mentioned that it is essential to form alliances between communities, since water is becoming increasingly scarce but is fundamental for life, conservation, and fire prevention and firefighting. In this territory, in turn, they commented on the lack of opportunities to put into practice the theoretical knowledge they have and the need for greater community articulation to advance in the solution of local needs.

The latter, from autonomous and self-managed initiatives that do not depend solely on the will of public institutions, for which it is key to build trust between organizations and communities. For all this, a common desired future is to create spaces for horizontal exchange of collective experiences, with instances to materialize them and put them into practice.

In the sector of Palguín Alto Montaña, Pucón, La Araucanía, made up mostly of new inhabitants, they reaffirm the need for unity among neighbors, as there is a separation between old and new inhabitants, which has affected their ability to deal with problems associated with fires, trash burning, burial of trash and debris, and lack of coordination on when to apply certain practices. They suggest that external actors such as Conaf can serve as bridges or mediators, bringing together the community or communities through neighborhood councils or other organizations to address these problems, because sometimes some local actors are not open to questioning customs.

Informative activities, family activities and practical workshops, e.g. on water management through dry toilets, biofilters, among other possible contributions to the territory, are instances where everyone can learn and for this the joint intervention with actors from other territories such as Conaf, foundations, which are necessary to communicate and support in the articulation, can be positive. These external agents act as intermediaries in more complex or conflictive situations, following the line of education and community collaboration.

In Pucón and surrounding areas, there are cultural, community and generational diversities, which are a challenge that must be overcome and addressed. They consider that this type of exchange is key because it allows them to meet people with diverse perspectives and unite the community through creative dialogue and sharing experiences in a comprehensive manner. In this group, the Panqui community also commented on the challenge of building trust between communities and with institutions. There is still a lack of collaboration between foundations, as there are still many dynamics of competition for resources. One of the main challenges faced by their locality is the lack of connectivity in Panqui Alto, as they are isolated in situations of intense snowstorms or road closures. Curarrehue, the commune to which the sector belongs, is one of the most impoverished communes in Chile; however, the communities in the area have proven to be creators of transformations in their own territories, a matter that today is materialized in achievements such as the Agreement that creates the Council for Governance and Management of Villarrica National Park, Puesco Lanín sectorbetween the Association of Mapuche Communities Winkulmapu de Kurarewe, CONAF and the Ministry of National Assets.

As mentioned by Paola Arroyo, post-doctoral researcher at Universidad de La Frontera, in this instance we were able to "share what we know about the territory and know what we lack in order to work together (...) these instances serve to visualize what is happening, and (...) hear from the people who live there, what are the realities, needs and how in one way or another we, from the academy, can contribute. (...) Knowing different experiences both at the local and national level, plus the participation of these different actors in the territories, really generates a synergy regarding knowledge (...) on care and conservation (...) to be able to set goals and propose things that are more relevant to the territory".

Valeria Palma, researcher at Universidad de La Frontera, on the other hand, highlights the artistic component in the activity to diversify the conversation. "I liked how this day was approached, (...) incorporating art into the dialogue was great, because many times (...) we have similar basic ideas, but when we incorporate the artistic factor (...) we realize that we have different ideas that can also be complementary, from something more scientific (...) to something more poetic, as was the case with the letters, which there emerged many different results based on the same question, which was very enriching and nice".

"The impression I have taken away from this day has been that it is very important to bring together and create opportunities for the different actors to meet, which is often the hardest thing for us to do (...), as a Foundation I think it is interesting to promote these moments (...) and to innovate in how the different messages are communicated and force people to do these drawing exercises and other more symbolic meetings associated with these issues helps to facilitate the conversation and generate collective learning more quickly". Maya from Fundación Mar Adentro commented to us.

Limankian, executive director of the Panqui Foletti Foundation of the Panki Valley in the Curarrehue commune, emphasizes the importance of collaboration and looks forward to the next steps. "What I take away from this experience is that if we collaborate and get to know each other we can advance much faster than the individual efforts of each collective, NGO or foundation. I leave happy, waiting for what the next step is, the next meeting, (...) may it be very soon."