“Forest Fires: How to Tackle Them? II” is the title of the EHU Summer Course that we are organising in collaboration with Basoa Fundazioa. The event will take place on 15 September from 8.45 am to 1.45 pm at the Miramar Palace in Donostia. The aim of this event is to analyse certain aspects relating to these fires to help understand both their impact and how to tackle them in a context of climate change, which is intensifying heatwaves and droughts in Europe and, consequently, increasing vulnerability to devastating fires. According to data from Copernicus (the European EFFIS system), more than one million hectares were burnt in the EU in 2025 – the highest figure on record – and the impact was particularly severe on the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal accounted for 60 per cent of the area burnt).

The course “Forest Fires: How to Tackle Them? II” will feature Fernando Azurmendi, a technical forestry engineer and deputy director of the Bizkaia Foresters’ Association and the Basque Country Foresters’ Confederation; Virginia Carracedo, from the Research, Study and Management of the Natural Environment Group (GIMENA); Aitor Omar, head of the Forestry Service at the Provincial Council of Bizkaia; Raúl Vicente Pérez, a technician with the Forest Fire Reinforcement Brigade (BRIF) with 22 years’ experience; Leire Salaberria, managing director of USSE; and Pello Goikoetxea, president of Basoa Fundazioa.

The course is open to the general public and is specifically aimed at forest owners and forestry professionals.

Registration can be completed via the UIK website