A Conceptual Framework for Knowledge Exchange in a Wildland Fire Research and Practice Context

Abstract

Wildland fire is an important natural disturbance in many vegetated areas of the world. However, fire management actions are critical not only to prevent and suppress unwanted fires, but also mitigate and recover from the negative impacts of fire on people and communities. Advancements in wildland fire science can help inform these necessary actions in wildland fire management. How science is created and integrated into these fire management decision-making processes, whether through collaborations with external researchers and/or with scientists within a wildland fire management agency itself, requires a conscious understanding of how the science is useful and goes beyond the simple existence of knowledge. This chapter outlines the goal of integrating fire science and management using a conceptual knowledge exchange (KE) framework, informed from existing work on KE. We provide a review of the KE literature relevant to wildland fire management and develop a KE framework for the fire management context. In this context, we address the potential barriers and facilitators throughout this process followed by a discussion of an active learning approach aimed at developing effective data translation skills amongst students in a data analytics consulting course.