The role and resilience of public administrations in emergency management

Public administrations play an important role in the management of emergencies and disasters. As such they are being asked to increase their levels of resilience at both the system and individual authority level by intervening on the governance model, organisational routines and operational systems, and by developing new competencies. From the identification of resilience factors that have emerged from analysing some empirical evidence, it is possible to derive insights and operational suggestions to support local administrators and public managers in dealing with destabilising (unforeseen and unpredictable) events. The involvement of stakeholders in the various phases, from risk prevention to recovery management, is a condition for an effective approach to emergency management.