D2.1 Success and failure factors in responding to crises

The IN-PREP project adheres to the following definition of a crisis: A crisis is a shared perception of threat to a fundamental part or value of a society, which requires urgent action on the part of authorities under conditions of deep uncertainty (Rosenthal et al. 1989). A transboundary crisis (TBC) is a crisis that plays out across boundaries - regional and national. A key factor is that transboundary crises introduce even more complexity to crisis management, as they do not fall neatly within specific borders or policy domains. Europe has not seen many TBCs. However, there is a good argument to be made that they will increase in prevalence due to the increasing complexity and interconnectedness of European economies, and the rise of new types of transboundary threats (such as new technologies, new forms of terrorism, climate change, etc.). In order to describe the factors that either facilitate or hinder transboundary crisis response, the IN-PREP consortium conducted a literature review and eight interviews with crisis management experts. This research underlined the notion that during crises, a set of overarching managerial tasks must be performed. The findings - success and failure factors as well as existing technologies - will be incorporated into the IN-PREP tools, which aim to improve training and preparedness for (transboundary) crisis management.