Workshops / Seminar + Field Trips
Workshops / Seminar
Monday 6 June 2022
Red Sunday: 8 January 2040
Hosted by the Bureau of Meteorology
This half-day workshop aims to lead participants through a realistic extreme fire weather day occurring in Australia in the midterm future (2040), based on the latest high- resolution climate projections.
The focus of the workshop will be to identify key changes and improvements in services provided by the Bureau in partnership with fire and land management agencies to ensure the community is prepared and effectively warned of an approaching fire. The workshop will be facilitated, and will take a “value chain” approach, working from the community needs for warning, through to fire predictions and the underpinning meteorological science.
The workshop will include several short presentations. The first, presented over a working lunch, will describe the climate background projected for the fire scenario. Other presentations will focus on aspects of how roles in the value chain, such as meteorologists, fire behaviour analysts and social scientists might be expected to evolve over the next 20 years leading into “Red Sunday”.
WORKSHOP 1
TIME: 12.00 PM – 5.00 PM
COST: $50 (includes lunch & afternoon tea)
LOCATION: Bureau of Meteorology
700 Collins Street
Docklands Vic 3008
Changing Climate, Changing Practices: The role of sector and community partnerships in managing bushfire risk
Hosted by Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
There is an escalating need to navigate the complexities of a changing climate and the resulting effects on managing bushfire risk with and for communities. How we collaborate, partner and engage with communities and each other becomes increasingly significant as communities, agencies and the sector grapple with this challenge. There is a stark contrast between the fast-paced practice shifts needed to meaningfully respond to these challenges and the capacity of the systems in which we work to effectively adapt. So, how do we navigate this? The workshop will address collaboration, partnership and engagement in the context of this challenge from two related lenses –
1) re-imagining the way fire agencies work together across the sector, and
2) re-imaging how fire agencies partner with communities. The workshop will allow participants to engage with current research and best practice, contribute their own knowledge and experience, and experience a collective sense-making process that will foster connection and generate new insights.
It is intended for anyone interested in a solutions-focused conversation about the systems-level changes needed to meet the challenge of meaningful partnership and engagement for bushfire risk management in the face of a changing climate.
WORKSHOP 2
TIME: 10.00 AM – 3.00 PM
COST: $50 (includes morning tea & lunch)
LOCATION: Department of Justice & Community Safety Conference Centre
Lvl 27, 121 Exhibition Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
So close to the new beginning – Implementing the Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS)
Hosted by AFAC and NSW Rural Fire Service
All Australian jurisdictions have agreed that from 1 September, a new fire danger rating system will replace the current McArthur forest and grass fire danger ratings. This seminar will provide an opportunity to discuss the ins and outs of the new system.
It will explain the science behind the new system and demonstrate the use of the new IT platforms that will enable the new system’s operational use. There will also be explanations behind the new system’s four fire danger categories and what actions are expected from communities to undertake when each category is forecasted.
Intended audience: fire management personnel, industry that utilises FDR for decision making (eg.. forestry, agriculture and utilities), government departments that utilise FDR for decision making (eg. police and education), members of the public, media.
SEMINAR 1
TIME: 10.00 AM – 4.00 PM
COST: $50 (includes lunch & afternoon tea)
LOCATION: Pullman Melbourne Albert Park
65 Queens Road
Albert Park VIC 3004
Field Trips
Friday 10 June 2022
Strategic Fuel Breaks in High Bushfire Risk Landscapes: pulling the right levers to ensure resilient communities
Hosted by Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
This field trip to the Great Ocean Road will demonstrate the multiple levers that can be pulled to reduce bushfire risk in a landscape where the likelihood and consequence of significant life loss from bushfire is very real, particularly with predicted climate change impacts.
The trip will anchor off a specific strategic fuel break (SFB) project completed in 2021 to demonstrate bushfire risk modelling and local knowledge to the planning and implementation of a complex planned burning program, and the operational realities of firefighting in busy tourist areas, along with innovative and practical community engagement. Most importantly, this field trip will highlight the framework of effectively supporting and partnering with communities to live and thrive through a changing climate through multi-agency collaboration and investment.
The Project:
The Surf Coast Shire Strategic Fuel break project is an exemplar in working together with multiple agencies, private landholders, and communities to reduce bushfire risk. Four years of intensive planning and engagement culminated in 167.3Ha of SFB’s being constructed on public and private land around assets and townships along the Great Ocean Road in the Surf Coast, Victoria. This project is part of ongoing, strategic partnerships in the Otway Ranges to identify and reduce bushfire risk.
Strategic fuel Breaks:
- Are up to 40 meters wide and resemble grassy woodlands.
- Will support planned burning close to assets.
- Improve safety and backburning efforts for firefighters during bushfires.
- Improve safety by managing hazardous trees along key roads.
- Protect communities by reducing fuel loads close to towns.
- Promotes further work with partners and community to reduce urban fuels.
Genuine, robust partnerships are integral to success and key agencies continue to work together on a range of bushfire risk reduction projects through the Otways. This SFB project has been adopted by the Victorian Government in response to recent bushfire inquiries.
FIELD TRIP 1
TIME: 8.00 AM – 3.30/4.00 PM
COST: $110 (includes bus transportation, morning tea & lunch)
PICK-UP: Pullman Melbourne Albert Park
DROP-OFF: 3.30 PM – Melbourne Airport
4.00 PM – Pullman Melbourne Albert Park
Forest fire research: management effects and fire dynamics
Hosted by The University of Melbourne
The purpose of this field trip is to provide insights into forest fire research at the University of Melbourne, from laboratory experiments to field-based studies, to better understand impacts of fuel management techniques, fire behaviour and risks. The full-day tour begins with a visit to a Fire Effects Study Area (FESA) site in the Wombat Forest, followed by a stop at a mulching site near the picturesque St. Georges Lake near Creswick. The field trip continues at the Creswick campus of the University of Melbourne, the home of forestry in Victoria. The trip concludes with a visit to the Creswick Fire Lab and a demonstration of experimental equipment.
Sites:
- STOP 1: Wombat Forest.
The Fire Effects Study Areas (FESA) is a long-term planned burning experiment across five locations in the Wombat State Forest; at the southern-most site (‘Blakeville’) you can view and discuss the relative effects of burning over more than three decades in different seasons and at different frequencies, including the challenges of maintaining large-scale manipulation experiments; - STOP 2: Mulching site.
Mulching (or mechanical mastication) is increasingly being used for fuel management across Victoria, particularly in locations with shrub encroachment. We will observe a recently mulched site and discuss some of the research currently being undertaken to understand how mulching alters fuel properties and the ecological implications of this approach. - STOP 3: Creswick Fire Lab.
Fire behaviour and risk research requires experimental quantification of the various fire behaviour phenomena. Not all experimental research can be undertaken in the field for both safety and logistical reasons. During a visit to the Fire Lab at the University of Melbourne’s Creswick Campus, you will see various experimental equipment in action, and their utilisation for bushfire research.
FIELD TRIP 2
TIME: 8.00 AM – 3.30/4.00 PM
COST: $110 (includes bus transportation, morning tea & lunch)
PICK-UP: Pullman Melbourne Albert Park
DROP-OFF: 3.30 PM – Melbourne Airport
4.00 PM – Pullman Melbourne Albert Park
FAQs
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If you have proceeded to register and then changed your mind, please contact the Conference Secretariat within 24 hours of registering to avoid any cancellations fees.
Registration cancellations received 30 days prior to the event will be refunded, minus a $120 cancellation fee. Cancellations received less than 30 days prior to the event will not be eligible for a refund. Substitute delegates may be nominated at any time.
Refunds for registration add-ons (workshops, dinners etc) will be given at the discretion of the Conference Secretariat.
Cancellation of hotel bookings must be made directly with the hotel.
All cancellations and substitutions must be made in writing by the registered person to the Conference Secretariat.
Venue
Pullman & Mecure Melbourne Albert Park is certified with the #ALLSAFE label. For more information as to what this entails and what safety measures are in place, click here to visit their website.
Vaccinations
The Conference Secretariat has the right to refuse entry if you are unable to produce proof of vaccination status or relevant exemption. Refusal of entry is not eligibility for a refund.
Cancelled event
In the event that the conference is unable to proceed as scheduled due to government imposed restrictions, the Conference Secretariat will be in touch. Delegates will be offered a full refund.
Registration fees do not include insurance of any kind. It is strongly recommended that you consider your individual travel and health insurance requirements prior to making travel arrangements.
There may be photographs taken throughout the conference and at the social events. These may be used for promotional activities, including the conference website, social media etc. If you do not want your photograph taken, or used, please notify the photographer onsite at your earliest convenience.
IAWF and the Conference Secretariat reserve the right to amend any part of the conference program or event should it be necessary. No liability will be accepted for damages of any nature sustained by participants, or their accompanying persons, or loss or damage to their personal property as a result of the conference or related event.
The Conference Secretariat has the right to refuse entry if you are unable to produce proof of vaccination status or relevant exemption. Refusal of entry is not eligibility for a refund.