Emergency management through enduring collaborative networks: Lessons on phases and levels

Abstract

This article explores the conditions that underpin networks as enduring collaborative relationships. To identify key features that sustain long-term collaboration, we use the Norwegian system of emergency management as our empirical case. Norway is characterized by the important role played by volunteers and voluntary organizations as partners to the police in search and rescue operations. In particular, the article focuses on two possible explanations for the endurability of these networks: the broad involvement of volunteers in the different phases and the role of intermediaries. The article concludes that intermediaries can compensate for a lack of broad involvement, which may be particularly relevant for emergency management where many different resources have to be mobilized in a short time span and in a fashion that enables fluid interaction. This finding is a reminder that both phases and levels need to be explored in empirical studies of collaborations.