The research landscape of wildfire vulnerability in Austria

Changes in temperature and precipitation in Austria due to climate change are expected to increase the days of fire weather in the near future. Extreme wildfire events are not common in Austria, nevertheless, given climate change and an increase in the number of events in the last years, authorities and decision-makers require tools to identify vulnerable hotspots and to reduce the upcoming risk in the Wildland Urban Interface. A number of projects ran by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna focus on the assessment of vulnerability at different levels (national and local) and different elements at risk (industrial and residential buildings, free spaces and infrastructure). We present herein the current research landscape on the field in Austria and more specifically the projects PHLoX (StartClim), REVEAL (Waldfonds), and FIREPRIME (DG ECHO). Each project is based on expert knowledge and data-driven approaches and deals with different elements at risk and vulnerability indicators emphasising the need for participatory methods for wildfire risk management. We demonstrate how these projects can serve as a blueprint for increased wildfire resilience in Europe and beyond.