Controlled Collaboration in Disaster and Crisis Management in the Netherlands, History and Practice of an Overestimated and Underestimated Concept

In the Netherlands disaster and crisis management is a local responsibility. The official point of view is that this asks for central controlled collaboration. Authority to enforce this is legally given to the mayor and a dedicated operational leader. Practice however shows that during the acute phase of a disaster or crisis that central controlled coordination cannot be achieved. In this article it is shown that control over the collaboration in the acute phase of a disaster or crisis can only be accomplished in an indirect way via controlled collaboration in the preparatory phase. Practice however shows that in the preparatory phase collaboration of organizations involved in disaster or crisis management is not enforced but based on voluntary actions of these organizations.