Promising practices, lessons, and policy gaps: Advancing responses to air quality from wildfires at the community level

Abstract

What is working at the community level to respond to smoke events?

Are the voices of vulnerable and sensitive groups being included in local, regional, and provincial policy?

What can communities learn from one another, and what are our knowledge gaps?

Despite increasing wildfires and smoke events, too little has been done to assess actions communities are taking to prepare for wildfire smoke, ensure protection amidst wildfires and prescribed burns, and reliably measure and address air quality during and after wildfires. To understand the range of different approaches, the WORLD Policy Analysis Center (WORLD) at UCLA has carried out a comparative examination of policies across levels --from municipal to regional to provincial -- including more 150 stakeholders across the Western United States, British Columbia, Canada, and Victoria, Australia.

WORLD's new report, Promising Practices and Policy Gaps: Advancing Responses to Air Quality in the Context of Wildfires and Prescribed Burns at the Community Level, outlines what communities can and should learn from what is working elsewhere, and the key gaps we need to fill. This presentation will share best practices, innovations, promising approaches, and insights for policymakers and community groups working to advance resilience for communities and the environment in the context of smoke events.

Speakers

Adele Cassola, PhD; Chief of Social Policy Research, WORLD Policy Analysis Center

Adele Cassola is Chief of Social Policy Research at the WORLD Policy Analysis Center, UCLA, where she leads globally comparative policy research on social determinants of health. She previously led multi-year public health and social policy research initiatives with York University’s Global Strategy Lab and McGill University's Institute for Health and Social Policy. Adele has a PhD in Urban Planning from Columbia University, an MSc in City Design and Social Science from the London School of Economics, and a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies and European Studies from the University of Toronto.
 

Nicholas Perry, Director of Partnerships, WORLD Policy Analysis Center

Nicholas Perry is the Director of Partnerships at the WORLD Policy Analysis Center. He is a senior member of the research team, leading the work on increasing resiliency to wildfires and air quality challenges, as well as supporting research on gender, equal rights, work and family, education, poverty and disability, Nicholas also directs WORLD’s global research and dissemination partnerships with policymakers, civil society organizations, intergovernmental organizations, funders, and the public at large. Over the last decade, this work has given Nicholas the opportunity to lead work with leaders, policymakers and civil society groups in over 110 countries on all continents. Nicholas received his BA in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Southern California.