On July 17, BPI, “la Caixa” Foundation and Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, celebrated the creation of the BPI | “la Caixa” Chair in “Forest and Fire Management” led by Tiago Oliveira, designed to foster informed public discussion on territorial and forestry strategies and policies, contributing to strengthening the scientific evidence base surrounding fire governance, focusing on active landscape management, risk prevention, and mitigation.
The researcher will be integrated into the Center for Innovation, Technology, and Policy Research (IN+), a research unit affiliated with Técnico. During the first year of the Chair’s tenure, he will work on processes and products that promote fire prevention, compare regional and European indicators, and engage in forward-looking national and international dialogues. Tiago Oliveira will also serve as a Visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering (DEM).
Rogério Colaço, the president of Técnico, emphasised the importance of understanding “what is useful to offer society” during his remarks in the Main Buildings’ meeting room at the Alameda campus. He expressed “immense joy in signing this agreement with ‘la Caixa’”, to whom he extended his gratitude. He noted that this initiative is “absolutely central for our country and beyond, particularly in light of climate change”. “This agreement enables us to launch an interesting initiative that contributes to the country’s development, generates knowledge, and assists policymakers in making decisions based on scientific data”, he stated, adding that “one of Técnico’s three main pillars is social engagement—that’s why Técnico was founded 115 years ago by Brito Camacho”.
The Chair’s holder, Tiago Oliveira, expressed his desire to disseminate information on this subject right at the Chair’s launch event, with a presentation on fire management and firefighting in Portugal, followed by a discussion session featuring journalists Soraia Ramos (RTP) and Amadeu Araújo (Expresso newspaper). The reporter from the Portuguese public broadcaster praised the initiative, stating that “talking about fire isn’t something everyone agrees on”. She noted that once the fire season in Portugal is over, “we tend to forget about it until the next summer”. Amadeu Araújo emphasised the importance of “implementing an accelerated programme for controlled burns” and highlighted the need to “have the courage to, once and for all, manage the land effectively”.
The researcher reflected on his “longstanding connection with Técnico” over the years, mentioning a postgraduate course, and recalled that “30 years ago, I used to come here to borrow a radiometer” for field studies on fires. He shared data and figures on the ‘state of the art’ – around 390 million hectares were burnt globally in 2025; in Europe alone, there were 38 deaths and over 120,000 hectares burnt that year. In Portugal, over the past 50 years, 56,000 square kilometers (an area equivalent to Croatia) have been burnt, with 77 percent of that land affected two or more times.
According to Tiago Oliveira, the aim should be to move from a purely reactive system, focused on suppression, to an integrated, coordinated and multi-level system that tackles the root causes of the problem. The researcher also pointed out a bias in public opinion, which suggests that using aerial resources can “solve everything”. However, he explained that this is not the case – once the energy released per square metre of flame exceeds a certain threshold, direct firefighting becomes ineffective (even with aerial support), and it is more effective to redeploy resources to remove combustible material from areas that may still be at risk of fire spread.
Madalena Alves, president of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), emphasised that “by supporting this Chair, you [the organisations involved] are demonstrating strategic vision”, highlighting Tiago Oliveira’s “remarkable career” and the excellence of IN+ and Técnico.
Also present at the ceremony was the honorary chairman of BPI, Artur Santos Silva, who spoke of “a central issue in Portuguese society, and perhaps the problem least addressed by those who govern the country”. “In the summer, politicians remember that they need to address fire management, but preventing fires in the first place is a significant issue”, he argued, further emphasising: “As far as is known, Técnico is the most important institution in Portugal regarding the scale and variety of its academic programmes within the higher education system”.
