Enhancing Wildfire Prevention, Response, and Resilience in Cyprus Through Public–Private–Academic Collaboration: The SupportCY Model.

In the last decade, Cyprus has faced a sequence of extreme wildfire events—the catastrophic 2016 fire in the island’s largest forest ecosystem, the fatal 2021 wildfire in the mountainous region of Larnaca, and the unprecedented 2025 megafire in the Limassol highlands—each exposing structural gaps in national prevention, response, and post-disaster recovery mechanisms. These events underscored a critical insight: addressing contemporary wildfire risk requires coordinated action that transcends traditional institutional boundaries.

Within this context, the SupportCY initiative of the Bank of Cyprus, originally founded in 2020 as a national solidarity platform during the COVID-19 crisis, has evolved into a globally unique tripartite network that formally integrates state authorities, private-sector organisations, and academic/research institutions into a unified framework for crisis management, wildfire resilience, and civil protection.

Today, SupportCY operates as the only known international model in which over two hundred entities—including ministries, emergency services, universities, research centres, private companies, community councils, and volunteer units—collaborate systematically on wildfire prevention, operational readiness, and long-term recovery.

This integrated structure enables multi-layered interventions: development and deployment of training programmes for citizens and frontline responders; establishment of the National Bee Reproduction Centre in fire-affected zones to restore ecological functions and support local livelihoods; scientific assessments and redesign proposals for the reconstruction of critical infrastructure and high-risk communities; provision of psychosocial support services for families and children; and active participation in European research and innovation programmes aimed at enhancing wildfire intelligence, digital resilience, and the capabilities of professional and volunteer first responders. Additionally, SupportCY operates its own specialised Volunteer Corps, equipped with trained responders and firefighting vehicles, officially recognised by both the Cyprus Fire Service and the Hellenic Fire Service.

The presentation will provide a comprehensive analysis of these collaborative initiatives, illustrating how they emerged through real-time operational demands, local community needs, and evidence-based scientific methodologies. It will further demonstrate how the SupportCY ecosystem has become a living laboratory of applied multi-stakeholder governance, capable of accelerating innovation, bridging research with field operations, and producing actionable solutions for the increasingly complex wildfire regimes of the Mediterranean. As the only global example of a structured, permanent, and operational state–private–academic partnership for wildfire resilience and civil protection, this case offers a replicable model for nations seeking to redesign their disaster-management architectures under the pressures of climate change.