{"id":5644,"date":"2026-02-25T11:09:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fireadapt.eu\/?p=5644"},"modified":"2026-02-25T11:27:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:27:41","slug":"interculturality-and-human-well-being-interview-with-rachel-carmenta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fireadapt.eu\/en\/interculturality-and-human-well-being-interview-with-rachel-carmenta\/","title":{"rendered":"Interculturality and human well-being. Interview with Rachel Carmenta."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rachel Carmenta<\/a> is an Associate Professor of Global Development and Climate Change at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK (see profile<\/a>), and co-leads FIRE-ADAPT\u2019s area of expertise on (inter)cultural services and human well-being (Work Package 3, WP3) together with Bibiana Bilbao<\/a>. Her work focuses on the human dimensions of fire use and flammability. Her work highlights the diversity of fire, challenges dominant \u201cfire-is-bad\u201d narratives and highlights how diverse relationships with fire shape biocultural landscapes, lifeways and justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rachel Carmenta (UEA) in the Sesc Pantanal Private Natural Heritage Reserve, Brazil. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You distinguish between \u201cgood fire\u201d and \u201cbad fire\u201d. What is the difference?<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bad fire is fire that is out of place or out of balance. In ecosystems like the Amazon rainforest, forest fires cause severe ecological damage because species haven\u2019t evolved with it. This affects both biodiversity and the people who depend on the forest. But even in fire-adapted ecosystems, such as the Cerrado, fire can become damaging when long-term suppression leads to fuel build-up and unusually intense fires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good fire, by contrast, plays an essential role in fire-adapted systems: reducing fuel loads, supporting regeneration, and sustaining livelihoods. In some contexts, fire is also vital for safety, food production and local autonomy. Even in rainforest contexts, small-scale, traditionally managed agricultural fires feed people and enhance biodiversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does WP3 on intercultural services and human well-being involve?<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We originally planned to focus on \u201ccultural services\u201d, one of the ecosystem services categories that captures how nature contributes to people beyond material, or instrumental, benefits. But Integrated Fire Management (IFM) is really about exchange\u2014between cultures, knowledge systems and practices\u2014so we added the \u201cintercultural\u201d element to emphasise this aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The human well-being element reflects another framework we work with. Fire, whether wild or managed, affects all dimensions of well-being: material, relational (including spiritual and people-nature relationships) and subjective. WP3 brings these perspectives together to better understand how fire management, as well as flammability, affects people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between whom does this knowledge exchange take place?<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At many levels: across disciplines within the FIRE-ADAPT consortium<\/a>; between fire managers, natural and social scientists; across countries with different governance traditions; and between communities, including Indigenous and rural communities such as those in the Amazon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you give an example of how fire relates to well-being?<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wildfires and changing flammability can damage landscapes in ways that disrupt people\u2019s sense of place and territory. But harm also comes from policies that prohibit traditional fire practices, preventing people from caring for the land in ways that are culturally meaningful to them. This often affects communities that are already marginalised, particularly in rural or Indigenous contexts. Restrictive fire policies can detach people from their land, eroding cultural knowledge and practices alongside biodiversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some cases, banning fire has even led to larger, more damaging fires. Although there is now growing recognition of Indigenous fire knowledge, power imbalances often remain. Interculturality in IFM offers a way to address some of these past harms, restore relationships and achieve for management that is ecologically as well as culturally beneficial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the main objective of WP3?<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main output will be a Rapid Assessment Booklet (RAB) aimed at policy-makers and the media with an emphasis on the importance of achieving interculturality in IFM.  More broadly, WP3 is about making visible different relationships with fire, especially those that tend to be marginalised or overlooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key goal is to improve the justice of fire management by understanding how policies and governance shape people\u2019s connections to fire, land and well-being\u2014and how IFM can help repair harmful relationships. So, in addition to the main output, there are other themes and collaborative exchanges on these topics. For example, we have organised and hosted conference panels, workshops, art-based sessions, and joint papers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are you gathering material for the RAB?<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We draw on a wide range of methods. For example, Grania Power<\/a> worked with Amazonian communities using the Three Horizons framework, which explores current fire realities, desired futures, and what changes are needed to move between them. We have developed a core team that has been working on the key messages and the structure of the RAB; we have designed a questionnaire to gather inputs from across the consortium; and of course, we draw on all of the interactions and exchanges made possible through the network, including the Study Hubs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you collaborate with other project\u2019s areas of expertise?<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes. I\u2019ve worked with WP2 on biodiversity conservation, contributing perspectives on what fire-driven biodiversity change means for local people. I also collaborate with WP5 on IFM as a climate change adaptation tool, which cuts across all work packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the current state of the work?<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RAB is currently in development. Much of the work has emerged from meetings at the Brazil<\/a>, France<\/a> and Argentina<\/a> Study Hubs, which helped build shared understanding and collaboration within WP3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside this, I\u2019m also drafting a paper on the \u2018semantics of fire\u2019, exploring how language shapes how fire is understood and governed. It also considers what sorts of new language, terms and tools might be useful to help guide towards the roadmap for interculturality in IFM. To me, understanding and carefully framing the \u2018semantics of fire\u2019 becomes more than just an academic exercise\u2014it represents a way to help bring the Bel\u00e9m COP30 Declaration<\/a>\u2019s vision to life: a world where climate adaptation, livelihoods, and ecosystem stewardship are truly integrated, inclusive, and just.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rachel Carmenta is an Associate Professor of Global Development and Climate Change at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK (see profile), and co-leads FIRE-ADAPT\u2019s area of expertise on (inter)cultural services and human well-being (Work Package 3, WP3) together with Bibiana Bilbao. Her work focuses on the human dimensions of fire use and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sin-categorizar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fireadapt.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fireadapt.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fireadapt.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fireadapt.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fireadapt.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5644"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.fireadapt.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5666,"href":"https:\/\/www.fireadapt.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5644\/revisions\/5666"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fireadapt.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fireadapt.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fireadapt.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fireadapt.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}