Living with Fire: Cross-Sector Collaboration to BolsterWildfire Resilience in Santa Barbara County

Oct 15

SANTA BARBARA, Calif (October 15, 2024) —The Community Environmental Council (CEC), in partnership with UCSB’s California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) and Santa Barbara County’s Wildﬁre Resilience Collaborative, will host the Living with Fire Summit on Wednesday, October 23rd from 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. with a reception from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m.at CEC’s Environmental Hub at 1219 State Street, in Downtown Santa Barbara. This free community event will bring together leaders from various sectors to discuss wildﬁre resilience projects in the region. Registration is required at cec.pub/ﬁresummit.

The summit is designed to foster cross-sector collaboration and dialogue around ongoing and upcoming wildﬁre resilience projects throughout Santa Barbara County. Key topics of discussion will include current successes, challenges, and future opportunities for innovation in policy and infrastructure.

“The Living with Fire Summit offers a unique opportunity for stakeholders to come together and discuss both the progress we’ve made and the challenges that lie ahead,” said Em Johnson, CEC’s Director of Climate Resiliency. “By sharing knowledge and fostering collaborations, we can inspire new research and innovations to advance wildﬁre resilience in the Central Coast region and beyond.”

"The Living with Fire Summit exempliﬁes UCSB's commitment to translating research into real-world solutions,” shared Kelly Caylor, UCSB Associate Vice Chancellor for Research. “By connecting our scientists with community partners, we hope to foster innovations that can signiﬁcantly enhance our region's wildﬁre resilience. This event catalyzes the collaborations and entrepreneurial thinking needed to better prepare for, respond to, and recover from wildﬁres."

A dynamic panel of experts will speak, including Frank Frieval (Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Institute at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo), Dave Shew (Napa County’s ﬁrst ﬁre administrator), Max Moritz (Founder & manager, Moritz Fire Lab), Rob Hazard, Fred Tan, Chris Dantch, Marc Mayes, Xifeng Yan, Alan Murray (Professor in the Department of Geography at UCSB), and Rich Wolski (Duval Family Presidential Chair in Energy Efficiency). The summit will focus on integrating real-world feedback into UCSB’s research to close technology and policy gaps, while educating funding agencies and elected officials on the urgent need for implementation investment.

This summit will:

Inspire new, innovative wildﬁre resilience research projects and collaborations
Foster connections to provide "real world" feedback and broaden adoption of resilience efforts
Educate agencies on the wildﬁre resilience projects currently underway and in need of investment
Develop a shared understanding of the policy and technology gaps that need to close in order to advance wildﬁre resilience
Enhance understanding of the nuances and complexities of wildﬁre and its impact and importance in each area of government activity

Summit outcomes aim to inspire new collaborations, accelerate progress, and help close gaps in wildﬁre resilience efforts. The summit promises to be a signiﬁcant step forward in addressing the wildﬁre challenges facing Santa Barbara County.

The program will run from 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. with speakers and panel discussions throughout. The event will conclude with a reception and open house from 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

For more information and to register, visit cec.pub/ﬁresummit.