South Eastern Mediterranean Excellence Development in FIre REsearch

In full alignment with the WIDERA-Twinning-topic’s requirements, SEMEDFIRE aims to enhance the capacities and knowledge-acquisition of the Widening institution; EUC, in Research-&-Innovation (R&I) and Research-Management-Administration (RMA) relating to Fire Safety and Fire Management. This is aimed through networking activities with five top-class leading counterparts at EU level; IMPERIAL COLLEGE, WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY, PAU COSTA FOUNDATION, FRENCH GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF CIVIL SECURITY AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT and NIMES-Metropole, which represent a multifaceted, but complementary and synergistic, ‘geography’ of R&I-philosophies and approaches, comprising: •two leading Academic institutes in the area of fire safety and integrated fire management; •a leading Foundation in investigating fires and communities-engagement; •a Governmental Agency leading the EU-effort in operationally combating Forest Fires; •an Agglomeration of Municipalities providing the tangible example of local governance in Forest Fires; •a representation of both Member States and an Associated Country; •a linking of the European Research Area (ERA) in a “compass” fashion: from north (UK) to central Europe (FR, NL), to the west (ES), and to the Mediterranean biogeographical region (ES, FR, CY) and its South-Eastern area (CY). The networking-for-excellence and twinning-contributions of the internationally-leading Advanced Partners in knowledge-transfer and capacity-building, focus on both EUC and within and for its surrounding targeted stakeholders from public governance, industry/ entrepreneurship and civic society, at local and regional levels. It is hence scoped to raise the profile and reputation of EUC to such a level of ERA-excellence that it will be able to become a lighthouse of spreading fire-science excellence in Cyprus and the SE Mediterranean, as well as to nurture a culture of societal fire-safety.