Canada and other G7 nations resolved to boost global cooperation to prevent, fight and recover from wildfires, including through collaborative research to enhance wildfire resilience, as stated in the Kananaskis Wildfire Charter.

Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States are pleased to announce an upcoming joint collaborative research funding call focused on wildfires in the wildland-urban interface. In Canada, funding for Canadian researchers will be provided by  the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), with NSERC leading Canada’s participation.

This collaborative opportunity seeks to improve understanding of and resilience to wildfire in the wildland-urban interface. Innovative research is needed to develop new frameworks that better explain current fire behaviour, assess emerging risks and impacts, and guide more effective prevention, mitigation and adaptation strategies.

The Enhancing Resilience to Wildfires in the Wildland-Urban Interface call, led by the Natural Environment Research Council-UK Research and Innovation (NERC-UKRI), is anticipated to officially launch in late June. More information will be provided at that time.

Canadian researchers from a broad range of disciplines, including natural sciences and engineering, health, and social sciences and humanities are eligible to apply to this funding call. They will be required to partner with UK researchers and may also partner with U.S. researchers.

Interdisciplinary projects are encouraged, reflecting the complex and interconnected challenges posed by wildfires in the wildland-urban interface.

For questions, please contact RP-Initiatives-PR@nserc-crsng.gc.ca.

Partners include:

• UKRI
• CIHR
• NSERC
• SSHRC
• U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)