The pilot test of the Edufire Toolkit project at the Taradell Institute (Barcelona), coordinated by the Pau Costa Foundation and the same institute, took place on January 22, 23 and 25, 2024. 50 4th ESO students participated who take the Biology and Geology electives. The objective of the pilot test was to put into practice and evaluate part of the pedagogical content that has been created throughout the Edufire Toolkit project with the different partners. Helena Ballart and Carla Vilarasau, from the Landscapes and Resilient Societies (Education) area of the Foundation, were in charge of coordinating and supervising the pilot test.
The need to manage the territory to prevent large forest fires was the main idea on which the pilot test was focused. From here, during the three days of the conference, the students learned the basic concepts of the spread of fire thanks to the talk by the Firefighters of the Generalitat de Catalunya; they learned about the Ramats de Foc (Fire Herds) project from Marc Arcarons (project coordinator) as an example of a territory management strategy that seeks to enhance the contribution of herds to fire risk management, through grazing in forest areas. In this line, the importance of consuming local products was emphasized to favor local producers who do a great job to manage the landscape and thus protect us against large forest fires. They also analyzed the landscape we currently have and identified the main risks in the territory.
At the same time, during the three days of the pilot test, the students built a scale model of the town of Taradell. This model contained the different land uses. In the process of making the model, the students decided which were the best situations to apply land management strategies and chose the places where to carry out a prescribed burn, or where to place vineyards or herds, for example.
For the presentation of the results, work was done on the recording of two podcasts where Pepe Pallàs (GRAF firefighter and survivor of the 2009 Horta de Sant Joan fire accident) was interviewed, Jaume Costa (patron of the Pau Costa Foundation) and Àngel Marc (farmer linked to the Ramats de Foc project). The students also participated in the making of the report for the television channel Canal 9, about the pilot test and knowledge learned, which included statements from the Town Planning, Sustainability and Sports Councilor of Taradell City Council, from technicians from the Foundation Pau Costa (Carla Vilarasau), from Ramats de Foc (Àngel Marc), from the course tutor and students.
Finally, the model, together with the contents learned and worked on, were shared with the community, in an informative way, in the form of an exhibition at the Can Costa Cultural Center in Taradell.
