We recently attended the POLLEN (Political Ecology Network) Conference, where we presented our research as the FIREPOL team.

Our Post Doctoral Researcher Luisa Escobar presented her current research, which explores how fire use can serve as a lens for understanding the territorial dynamics of concession systems in the Okavango. 

Our Post Doctoral Researcher Alessandro Tinti’s presentation shed light on the underlying dynamics of Northern Thailand’s seasonal haze crisis. It showed how satellite-based fire governance fuels disproportionate urban resentment toward traditional highland agriculture, forcing local communities to adopt “performative compliance” by timing controlled burns around satellite pass schedules to safeguard their ancestral forest stewardship.

Our PhD Candidate Greta Mazzocchi’s presentation explored wildfire through the lens of feminist political ecology, drawing on research with ecofeminist brigades in Brazil to rethink fire, care, and earthothers relations.

The conference was a valuable opportunity to showcase our work, strengthen FIREPOL’s presence in current fire research, and connect with researchers and students working on fire-related issues in different parts of the world. It also provided a rich space to exchange ideas on the relationships between politics, territory, land, natural resources, and fire, and to learn from different perspectives on environmental and social challenges.