CMCC Foundation and OFIDIA2 at the

European Researchers’ Nights

Science and climate change: data and services for the future world

OFIDIA2 (Operational FIre Danger preventIon plAtform 2, www.interregofidia.eu) took part in 4 editions in a row (2018-2019, 2020-2021 online due to COVID-19 pandemic) of the European Researchers’ Night in Lecce, with over 1.5 million visitors attending across Europe!

The events attracted about 6.000 visitors in Lecce in 2018 and 10.000 in 2019 (from 6pm to midnight!)

European Researchers Nights are public events that aim to bring research closer to the public and show the impact of research on our daily lives.

The events are funded by the European Commission within the scope of the Marie Skłodowska Curie actions and coordinated by the University of Salento. The project involves both state universities and the main public research bodies in Apulia: the University of Bari, the Polytechnic Institute of Bari, the University of Foggia, the public research bodies CNR, INFN, ENEA, IIT, as well as the IRCCS-De Bellis of Castellana Grotte and the MArTA Museum of Taranto.

The participation in the various editions of the ERN was an opportunity to discuss OFIDIA2 with the public, a project funded by the European Territorial Cooperation Programme “Greece – Italy 2014 – 2020”. The project aims to protect the biodiversity in sensitive rural areas across the regions of Apulia (Italy) and Epirus (Greece) by setting up an operational big data infrastructure to help forest fire services in the effective prevention of fire hazard and the successful response to danger forecasts.

The European Researchers’ Nights therefore offered the chance to stress the importance of wildfire prevention and biodiversity protection and to showcase FireAware, the free mobile App for fire notifications designed within the project. 

Videos and pics from the event in 2019 (Lecce, September 27th, 2019 – Monastero degli Olivetani)

Stergios Anastasiadis from the University of Ioannina, Greece and partner of the OFIDIA2 project

Video from the online event in 2020

Rafforzare la capacità operativa di prevenzione e monitoraggio degli incendi

Video from the online event in 2021

OFIDIA2 – Operational FIre Danger preventIon plAtform 2

Pictures from the events on Sept. 30th, 2022 and Sept. 29th, 2023 (Lecce – Monastero degli Olivetani)