Christine Eriksen
@drceriksen.bsky.social
Geographer, ETH Zürich. Focus on social dimensions of disasters, particularly wildfires. www.christineeriksen.com
Read "Experiencing wildfire, understanding risk in mountain regions of Switzerland: a case study of the 2023 Riederhorn wildfire" by Lena Ursina Widmer and Christine Eriksen in the #FireEcology Journal #SNFECO https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00554-9
Fired up! 🔥🎥 Tom Lowe and I have been awarded an Agora grant by @snsf.ch to turn insights from the FiRESproject.com into short documentaries and a moving image installation that will be exhibited at @focusterra.bsky.social next year. To whet your appetite ➡️ css.ethz.ch/en/center/CS... @css.ethz.ch
Fired up! A Multi-Stage Dialogue Between Science and Society About Wildfire Preparedness
The Agora project ‘Fired up!’ will facilitate a multi-stage dialogue between science and society on the topic of wildfire prevention. It builds on the findings of Christine Eriksen's SNSF-funded FiRES...
css.ethz.ch
It has been a busy few months on many fronts for the FiRES project, not least due to Europe‘s fiery summer. From media interviews, published articles, and teaching engagements, to welcoming @zalifung.bsky.social to the team, this blog-post gives a quick update: christineeriksen.com/2026/09/22/a...
A busy summer: updates from the FiRES project
It has been a busy summer on many fronts, not least due to the wildfires that have dominated news headlines across Europe. I make a point of taking the time to speak with journalists. It makes a di…
christineeriksen.com
🔥 Hot off the press: 'Experiencing wildfire, understanding risk in mountain regions of Switzerland: a case study of the 2023 Riederhorn wildfire', published open access in Fire Ecology, drawing on Lena Widmer's Masters research. ➡️ link.springer.com/article/10.1... @afe-fireecology.bsky.social
Experiencing wildfire, understanding risk in mountain regions of Switzerland: a case study of the 2023 Riederhorn wildfire - Fire Ecology
Wildfire risk in Switzerland is expected to increase in the future due to a hotter and drier climate and more extreme weather events. This makes community-level preparedness and coping capacity increa...
link.springer.com
Aus den #Waldbränden dieses Sommers in Europa lassen sich viele Lehren ziehen, nicht zuletzt, dass wir viele der Lösungen für das Problem bereits kennen! Danke an den Schweizerischen Forstverein für die Einladung, diesen Kommentar zu veröffentlichen: www.szf-jfs.ch/de/artikel/w... @ethz.ch @snsf.ch
Waldbrände werden auch von sozialen und kulturellen Prozessen geprägt
Die Sozialwissenschaftlerin und Waldbrandforscherin Christine Eriksen ordnet die europäischen Waldbrände vom Sommer 2026 ein. Artenreiche Wälder, lokales Wissen und Prävention auf Gemeindeebene können...
szf-jfs.ch
“Europe must learn to live with fire“ 🔥 Today's newsletter by @ethz.ch features an interview with me with reflections on the broader lessons from this summer's catastrophic #wildfires. The article is available in EN, D, F and I ➡️ ethz.ch/en/news-and-... @snsf.ch @css.ethz.ch
“Europe must learn to live with fire“
Severe wildfires are raging across Europe. ETH researcher Christine Eriksen argues that destructiveness of wildfires is often determined by social and cultural processes.
ethz.ch
Interesting article on the long-tradition behind US wildland firefighters’ boots. The most basic piece of equipment the job requires is still something firefighters on a tight budget buy themselves, made by a shrinking number of highly skilled hands. #wildfires www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
These boots are the safest for US wildland firefighters. Fewer and fewer can afford them
The handcrafted leather boots are a century-old tradition – but with money tight, the cost of up to $800 is harder to justify
theguardian.com
"Europa brennt, die Schweiz hilft – doch beim EU-Katastrophenschutz steht sie vor der Tür." Unsere @css.ethz.ch Studie über eine mögliche Beteiligung der Schweiz am UCPM hat nach wie vor hohe Relevanz. Meine aktuellen Gedanken dazu in diesem Artikel von #swissinfo: www.swissinfo.ch/ger/schweize...
Europa brennt, die Schweiz hilft – doch beim EU-Katastrophenschutz steht sie vor der Tür
Waldbrände plagen Europa. Die Schweiz hilft beim Löschen. Doch hätte sie selbst Anspruch auf Hilfe, wenn die EU-Ressourcen knapp werden?
swissinfo.ch
🔥 FiRES Filippo Zeffiri’s PhD research compares official #wildfire risk management strategies and local fire practices in mountainous regions of Europe. Filippo's interest in this topic grew from his Masters research, which has just been published in #FireEcology 👏 ➡️ doi.org/10.1186/s424...
“The macchia is a garden”: wildfires, pastoralism, and landscape ideologies in the Aurunci Mountains, Italy - Fire Ecology
Background The Aurunci Mountains, in Southern Lazio, represent one of the most wildfire-affected areas in Italy. The authors conducted a series of narrative interviews with specific stakeholders, including pastoralists, farmers, firefighters from the Civil Protection, forest rangers from the disbanded Italian State Forestry Corps (Corpo Forestale dello Stato), and personnel from the local natural park. Interviews focused on the topics of land use change, change in space and landscape perception, and traditional fire practices. The authors aimed to identify diverse perspectives and narratives that underpin participants’ attitudes towards land use change and fire management. Results The research results highlight how different social actors present distinct landscape ideologies and perceptions of the environment, which inform their point of view regarding land use and fire management. On one hand, local pastoralists present a landscape ideology that emphasizes human intervention in the landscape, including the use of traditional fire practices for pasture renewal. On the other hand, representatives of local authorities took a hard stance on fire exclusion and minimal human intervention in the landscape; however, recent changes in local policies might indicate a shift in this attitude. Some participants also expressed a moderate, integrative viewpoint that shows some potential to bridge the cultural and ideological divergence between different groups. Many participants expressed a sense of grief related to the changing landscape and the disruption of the social-ecological system in the area. Conclusions Based on these findings, the authors argue that mediation between stakeholders with different landscape ideologies is essential to improve wildfire resilience and fire management in the Aurunci Mountains. However, harmonizing these views is challenging due to conflicting perceptions of landscape and the relationships between people and the environment they live in. Thus, achieving consensus on wildfire prevention and management remains a significant challenge. As a first step towards a possible solution, the authors propose adopting participatory and transformative approaches in future research to promote a narrative of shared, desirable views of future fire management in the area.
doi.org
🌏New in Geo🌍 'Interdisciplinary perspectives on geoviolence: Towards relational conceptual integration' by Nora Komposch et al. This commentary explores the concept of 'geoviolence' in the context of accelerating human-driven environmental harm. doi.org/10.1002/geo2...
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Geoviolence: Towards Relational Conceptual Integration
Environmental degradation is widely recognised as largely driven by human activity, yet the terminology and conceptual frameworks used to describe socioenvironmental interconnections vary across disc...
doi.org
New in The GJ: 'A reparative paradigm for thinking with disasters' by Gregory L. Simon et al. This commentary argues for a paradigm shift in disaster research drawing from debates on reparations and reparative thought. doi.org/10.1111/geoj... #geosky
Hot off the press 🌍 🌎 🌏 'Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Geoviolence: Towards Relational Conceptual Integration' - a collaborative commentary with my colleagues Nora Komposch and Mauro Fischer, published open-access in @geoopenaccess.bsky.social. ➡️ rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/SRZEJC...
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Geoviolence: Towards Relational Conceptual Integration
Reader environment loaded
rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Hot off the press 🎉 The Second Shift in Mountain Guiding and Avalanche Work: Intersectional risk, human-caused hazards, and risk-management effectiveness among non-dominant groups. Published open-access by Reimer, Eriksen & Warren in IJDRR: doi.org/10.1016/j.ij...
Redirecting
doi.org
🔥Hot off the press: Strengthening Community #Disaster #Resilience in Uncertain Times: A multi-level analysis of an Australian #bushfire🔥 This paper examines the #recovery challenges faced by the Kangaroo Valley community as flood and pandemic followed #wildfire: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Strengthening community disaster resilience in uncertain times: a multi-level analysis of an Australian bushfire
This paper examines how community groups develop resilience over time through influencing and interacting with different societal levels throughout th…
sciencedirect.com
🔥 JOB ANNOUNCEMENT 🔥 I'm seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher in #Wildfire Social Science to join the FiRES project at ETH Zürich. Deadline: 29 January 2026. jobs.ethz.ch/job/view/JOP... Please share! @ethz.ch @afe-fireecology.bsky.social @paucostaf.bsky.social
Postdoctoral Researcher in Wildfire Social Science
jobs.ethz.ch
For the past year, the FiRES project's Masters student Lena Widmer has focused her research on the 2023 Riederhorn wildfire in the Swiss Canton of Valais 🔥 This blogpost provides a summary of her findings. Congratulations Lena on an excellent executed project! 🎉 christineeriksen.com/2025/12/12/m...
Masters project completed, adding a case study of the 2023 Riederhorn wildfire to the FiRES portfolio
(Photos are from the photo-book “Brand am Riederhorn” (2023), reproduced with the kind permission of the Bitsch and Riederhorn Municipalities.) For the past year, Lena Widmer has focused her Master…
christineeriksen.com
Hot off the press: A Reparative Paradigm for Thinking with #Disasters, now published in The Geographical Journal by @rgsibg.bsky.social. This collaborative paper is the last output from our fantastic workshop at @ethz.ch, supported by @snsf.ch and @unibe.ch: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Hot off the press 🔥 Indigenous stewardship rights and opportunities to recenter #Indigenous #fire, now published open-access in the #FireEcology journal. Thank you @pyrogeographer.bsky.social for leading this collaboration. rdcu.be/eQtLr 🔥 @afe-fireecology.bsky.social
Indigenous stewardship rights and opportunities to recenter Indigenous fire | Fire Ecology
rdcu.be
El 2025 va ser un any d'incendis forestals greus a Catalunya. Per això, l'enquesta «Conviure amb els Incendis Forestals a Catalunya» s'ha reobert per permetre que la gent comparteixi les seves experiències. Si us plau, compartiu: www.surveymonkey.com/r/FiRES_CAT 🔥 @paucostaf.bsky.social
CONVIURE AMB ELS INCENDIS FORESTALS A CATALUNYA
www.FiRESproject.com
surveymonkey.com
Were you impacted by the 2025 #UKwildfires? 🔥 The FiRES survey “Living with Wildfire in the UK and Ireland” has been re-opened to enable people to share their direct or indirect experiences of #wildfires or associated smoke. Please share/ re-post. www.surveymonkey.com/r/firesukie
LIVING WITH WILDFIRE IN THE UK AND IRELAND
Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.
surveymonkey.com
Dr Thomas Smith 🔥🌏@drtels.bsky.social · 12mo agoHere's a map of UK fire activity in 2025. 2025 was a record year for both number of fires and burnt area in the UK, according to the satellite record. Data from EFFIS, based on MODIS and Sentinel observations. 🔥#ukwildfires #wildfires
🎬📽️ New documentary: The Age of Fire 🔥🌍 Earlier this year, the ARTE science show '42: The Answer to Almost Everything' interviewed me, Stephen Pine and Kirsten Thonicke about the current #wildfire crisis. How can we learn to coexist with fire (again)? www.arte.tv/en/videos/12... @unibe.ch @ethz.ch
42: The Answer to Almost Everything - The Age of Fire - Watch the full documentary | ARTE in English
Humans are the only species that can produce fire. For a long time, we lived intimately with fire, which helped our development. But today fire seems like a destroyer, with ever more intense wildfires...
arte.tv
It’s full steam ahead with a new institutional home for the FiRES project at ETH Zürich. Fieldwork and collaborations continue unabated. You can read more about the move to #ETHZ and other research activities this summer in this blog post: christineeriksen.com/2025/10/03/i...
It’s full steam ahead with a new institutional home for the FiRES project!
As of October 1, 2025, the FiRES project has a new institutional home at ETH Zürich. I am excited to be back in the Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, which is hosting the FiR…
christineeriksen.com
The PLANAT.ch Committee met in Ticino last week, in part to learn from the hard-won lessons of the devastating floods/ rockslides in Maggia valley last summer. Seeing the damage and ongoing efforts to rebuild left a deep impression. This article describes it well: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
🔔Hot off the press📣 This paper is part of Rachel Reimer’s PhD on #risk management and #psychological safety in the mountain guiding and avalanche profession. It shows how human-caused hazards negatively impact physical safety in the profession. authors.elsevier.com/c/1lgxI_GvEq...
authors.elsevier.com
Again and again the USFS asked its own researchers how to better protect wildland firefighters, and they came back with the same recommendation: Give them masks. Still, leadership held off. Embracing masks would mean admitting how dangerous #wildfire #smoke really is. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/17/u...
Wildfire Fighters, Unmasked in Toxic Smoke, Are Getting Sick and Dying
nytimes.com
🧵California's fire season now starts up to 6 weeks earlier than in 1990. Although the population has ⬆️27% since then, human-ignited fires have dropped. Instead, the most significant factors are climate-related: earlier snowmelt, drying soils + more flammable vegetation as average temperatures rise.
Los Angeles Times@latimes.com · last yr.The start of California's fire season has moved up 6 weeks since 1990 thanks to climate change
Crying Glaciers: beautiful and heartbreaking Op-Doc by filmmaker Lutz Stautner and artist Ludwig Berger recording the sounds of the melting Morteratsch Glacier in Switzerland in an effort to capture the sounds of a disappearing environment. (via The New York Times) www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/o...
Opinion | The Last Words of a Dying Glacier
nytimes.com
☢️New commentary in Geo!☢️ 'Governing layers of shifting sands: Subterranean hazards, unfolding catastrophes and quotidian fragmentation' by @drceriksen.bsky.social & Gregory L. Simon This piece unpacks the governance & management of earthquakes & nuclear waste repositories. doi.org/10.1002/geo2...
Hot off the press 🚨 'Governing layers of shifting sands: Subterranean #hazards, unfolding #catastrophes and quotidian fragmentation', free to access in GEO: #Geography and #Environment: dx.doi.org/10.1002/geo2... Thank you to @snsf.ch and @rgsibg.bsky.social for supporting this collaborative work.
dx.doi.org
