OPEN INNOVATION CHALLENGE

Seeking Innovative Solutions for Extreme Wildfires

Be a part of the solution and help tackle the challenges of Extreme Wildfires in Europe and beyond.
Participate in the FIRE-RES Open Innovation Challenge and help us build more resilient landscapes and safe communities:

Please note that the applications are now closed.

Watch the Open Innovation Challenge Q&A Webinar

The Challenge: Extreme Wildfires

In recent years, Europe has experienced a significant increase in the frequency and intensity of wildfires. These extreme wildfires have resulted in devastating consequences, including the loss of life, destruction of natural habitats, damage to infrastructure and the release of harmful emissions impacting air quality.

We are calling upon innovators, entrepreneurs, technologists, researchers, businesses of all sizes, experts, and all forward-thinking minds in the field to step up and submit cutting-edge solutions addressing the challenges experienced by different stakeholders coping with the risks of extreme wildfires.

The challenges are organised under the following themes:

  • Risk Communication and Awareness
  • Engagement and Empowerment
  • Training and Education
  • Management Before, During and After Extreme Wildfire Events 
  • Monitoring
  • Forecasting and Decision Support
  • Policy and Governance
Explore all themes and challenges!

What types of solutions are we looking for?

We are looking for innovative solutions in all development stages – from early ideas, methods, prototypes to close-to-market or market-ready services and products (from here on summarised as “solutions”) that can help solve our FIRE-RES Open Innovation Challenges. The solutions may address any stage of wildfire management: prevention and preparedness, detection and response, restoration and adaptation. We welcome all kinds of solutions, for instance technological, social, or business model related; products, services, platforms, processes, procedures, best practice, etc. 

Successful applicants with early-stage solutions, such as ideas, will be supported to develop their solutions, while those with later-stage solutions, such as prototypes, close-to-market, or market-ready solutions will be supported to demonstrate, pilot and upscale their solutions. 

We are not looking for proposals for research papers or research projects as we aim to support targeted activities to develop, demonstrate, pilot and upscale concrete solutions. 

If you missed the info session or would like to rewatch it, click here

Why participate?

The FIRE-RES Open Innovation Challenge offers an unprecedented opportunity to make a lasting impact on wildfire prevention and, preparedness, detection and response, restoration and adaptation. By participating in the FIRE-RES Open Innovation Challenge, you will have the opportunity to: 

  • Make a Difference: Submit solutions that save lives, protect communities, and safeguard our environment.
  • Access Tailored Support: Selected solutions are eligible for economic and in-kind support and mentorship to develop and upscale the solutions.
  • Pitch and upscale: Get access to contacts and guidance from key actors and experts across Europe and South America. Present your solution to a wider audience through FIRE-RES events and publications.
  • Get Feasibility Insights: Understand the fitness, market readiness, and feasibility of your solution by demonstrating and testing in real life conditions.
  • Expand Professional Network: Meet like-minded professionals, researchers, and organisations working together to combat wildfire challenges.
  • Be Recognised: Gain visibility and prestige as FIRE-RES Open Innovation Challenge winner.

Who are the challenge owners?

FIRE-RES tests, deploys, and implements innovations in 11 Living Labs. These are geographical areas, such as sub-national regions and countries (mostly in Europe), in which FIRE-RES collaborates with wildfire stakeholders to demonstrate and deploy innovations to overcome wildfire problems. The local and regional stakeholders that we collaborate with include the public sector, civil protection, landowners, scientific communities, private companies, and citizen associations.

FIRE-RES organised workshops in the Living Labs to understand which are the major challenges of the local stakeholders. Through this bottom-up approach, 17 challenges in 7 challenge themes were defined. Each challenge includes a section “Voice of the Living Lab(s)” to represent the specific context, conditions, and needs of the Living Labs with regards to the challenges.

Interactive Challenges Dashboard

An interactive dashboard displaying all the LL challenges was produced by ForestWISE and can be consulted here.

Points of contact

The OIC points of contact available to the applicant are: 

Open Innovation Challenge supporters