"Science with and for Society" call for projects: REDURISK, winning project

Goal: reduce fire-related risks

Funded for 18 months, the interdisciplinary project "REDURISK: From scientific recommendation to citizen appropriation: Reducing fire risk in a sensitive area" is the fesult of a collaboration between information science researchers from the Institut Méditerranéen en Sciences de l'Information et de la Communication (Aix-Marseille Université, Université de Toulon), fire ecology specialists from the RECOVER unit (Risques, ECOsystèmes, Vulnérabilité, Environnement, Résilience, INRAE, AMU) and the URFM Ecologie des Forêts Méditerranéennes unit (INRAE), psychosociology researchers from the Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale (AMU), and the Forêt Méditerranéenne association. The project will also involve a number of students from the "Research, Organizational Communication and Sustainable Development" and "Information and Scientific and Technical Mediation" masters programs, to develop the research-training aspect.

Involving citizens through mediation

Established in a region at high risk of wildfire, REDURISK's aim is to build and test a scientific mediation system that would bring about changes in the behavior of target audiences at the forest-habitat interface: plant specifiers (nurserymen, gardeners, etc.) and private individuals with homes and gardens. An initial phase of research into the perception and circulation of fire-risk messages in public spaces, as well as an understanding of the brakes and levers on individual behavioral change, will enable us to co-construct a suitable system, leading to the appropriation of a risk culture and the reduction of fire risk. At the same time, an analysis of the interactions between the various players involved in the project will be carried out.