Barriers to Residential Wildland Fire Mitigation

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As evidenced over the past decade, Canada has been profoundly shaped by wildfire. Over the past five years, almost fifteen million hectares have burned – twice the size of the province of New Brunswick – with grave consequences for communities at the wildland urban interface. During this time, significant knowledge has been produced in the natural sciences and engineering about how to protect communities from wildfire. There is comparatively little understanding, however, of the social and behavioral dimensions of this challenge. In other words, why is it that – despite knowing how, technologically speaking, to protect homes from wildfire – adoption rates of these techniques and technologies remain low? This research project will improve our understanding of individual socio-behavioral barriers (for instance, lack of education, motivation, or community support) to wildfire preparedness.

Project Team