Proposal and statement from CISPAC (Interuniversity Research Centre on Atlantic Cultural Landscapes USC-UVIGO-UDC) at the service of society and its institutions
At CISPAC we want to contribute to a future without catastrophic wildfires that condemn rural territories and periodically threaten homes, villages, towns, and even cities. We express our support for those affected and for the institutions involved in finding solutions, and we place ourselves at their disposal for collaboration wherever possible. We do not accept the inevitability of wildfires and we know that there are capacities and conditions to conceive a different future.
From a multidisciplinary understanding of the rural world that encompasses economics, engineering, history, geography, sociology, anthropology, biology, law, and ecology, and with the contribution in these fields from the three Galician universities, CISPAC puts its knowledge at the service of society, Parliament, and a strategic political management that promotes a future without catastrophic wildfires. Of course, this is in collaboration with other researchers and research centres from Galicia and abroad, as well as with social organizations and institutions present in the territory.
“Thinking about reversing abandonment is as difficult as it is necessary, and it requires a major strategic effort of knowledge, dialogue, and action”
The contribution and participation of rural society, of the communal land communities —which cover 23% of the territory—, in shaping future solutions, has historically been the only way to achieve lasting and sustainable approaches to land management in Europe. The combination of agricultural, livestock, and forestry activities can only be a solution if there are people who maintain the land and the villages that support it. Thinking about reversing abandonment is as difficult as it is necessary, and it requires a major strategic effort of knowledge, dialogue, and action. From long-standing and internationally relevant university research on the rural world, land management, and landscapes, we place our knowledge at the service of the public.
The scientific management team of CISPAC
Xavier Simón Fernández | Professor of Ecological Economics, UVIGO
Laura Oso Casas | Professor of Sociology, UdC
Lourenzo Fernández Prieto | Professor of Contemporary History, USC