The thinking of New Public Governance in Swedish crisis preparedness: A case study of The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB)

Abstract

During 2021, a rising number of natural disasters occurred across Europe. Such events evoke passionate debates concerning guilt, accountability and regarding the division of responsibilities for crisis preparedness. Researchers argue that in order to be prepared and solve crises, a great mobilization of different resources, knowledge, and skills is required. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of the ideas that is included in the thinking of NPG, with a focus on Sweden crisis preparedness. Data is collected through interviews at MSB, a Swedish governmental agency. A research gap is identified regarding how governmental agencies work to effectively manage challenges through non-hierarchical processes and which factors that could foster the performance for effective collaboration. Findings show that NPG is taking place in Swedish crisis preparedness since MSB is using same concepts and advocates for the same ideas in crisis preparedness, as NPG does. Previous research has identified accountability and an unclear division of responsibility as challenges to the thinking of NPG, which findings in this study support. Factors that could be a solution to these challenges and foster effective collaborative crisis preparedness is coordination, the presence of a whole society approach and communication. Future research could go deeper into additional parties involved in Swedish crisis preparedness and contribute to the subject. This is even more urgent in a time when natural disasters are projected to increase and thus, collaborative crisis preparedness will play a crucial role in civil protection.