Rethinking legislation to cope with transboundary crisis

Societies are increasingly subject to transboundary crises that pose new challengesto crisis management and require a structural rethinking of longstanding arrange-ments. This study explores which governance aspects could be embedded inlegislation to facilitate the organization of such transboundary crisis management. Itbuilds upon research findings from the comprehensive 2020 governmentalevaluation study of the Safety Regions Act in the Netherlands and the relevantliterature. First, we provide a framework for a systematic study of the relationshipbetween law and practice. Second, we present a model on how legislation for crisismanagement could be adapted to better fit with transboundary crises. This consistsof a set of 10 key aspects categorized into five pillars: the interconnectedness of thevarious phases of crisis management and risk assessments as a starting point; flexiblecrisis management organization and network collaboration; allocated facilitator andexceptional decision‐making power; professional competences and netcentricinformation management; and learning capacities and democratic feedback. Thismodel provides a point of departure for researchers and policymakers alike forrethinking the role that legislation can play in preparing for the crises of the future