Conceptualizing Interorganizational Crisis Networks: Climate-Related Emergencies as Illustrations

In a world where policy problems increasingly demand coordinated solutions, the study of relational dynamics between organizations that are aimed at the coordination of crisis responses remains confined to a few pieces that have generally prioritized empirical over theoretical considerations. To fill this literature gap, this paper conceptualizes interorganizational crisis networks as multi-actor collaborative arrangements that function as a particular type of policy network: while their composition and dependence on resources such as information makes them similar to policy communities, interorganizational crisis networks also share the instability of network memberships and goal-oriented nature that issue networks possess. These characteristics grant interorganizational crisis networks with the required flexibility, robustness, and capacity to produce innovative and effective crisis responses, hence providing a public good. By assessing the applicability of these ideas to climate-related interorganizational crisis networks, this study brings conceptual clarity from a systemic view that contributes to understanding the behaviour, performance, and characteristics of interorganizational crisis networks. It also synthesizes and connects insights from the crisis management, environmental policy networks, governance, and public administration disciplines. These reflections are relevant for theorists and practitioners alike, considering the benefits associated with an improved understanding of the way in which crisis management arrangements work.