Science in Motion: Integrating scientific knowledge into bushfire risk mitigation in southwest Victoria

Scientific knowledge and scientific uncertainties play a significant role in the mitigation of natural hazard risk. As such, the natural hazards sector is often represented as ‘science-led’ or ‘researchled’. However, in actuality, relationships between scientific research, policy and practice are neither simple nor linear, and there are presently few studies that focus on the layers of practitioners who find themselves mediating these relationships. In order to provide insight into the integration of scientific knowledge, this paper considers the findings of a case study of bushfire practitioners in the Barwon-Otway area of southwest Victoria. This region has recently been the site of multi-agency efforts to reduce the residual bushfire risk using the PHOENIX RapidFire bushfire simulator. The paper concludes by posing several questions relevant to this and other risk mitigation contexts.