Local governments in crisis mode

由于新冠肺炎疫情，德国各城市的公共行政部门数月以来一直处于危机状态。危机模式的意思是：它们通过采用为危机管理而设计的特殊组织结构和程序来应对大流行病的情况。然而，媒体一再指出，不同城市的管理方法不一致。这在与公众沟通的官方规则、条例和声明的多样性中表现得很明显。一个普遍的要求是在联邦层面上采取统一的方法。与传统的危机管理组织（如警察、紧急医疗服务、消防队等）相比，市政当局的危机管理和危机沟通是一个未被充分探讨的主题。KoViK以一种结合社会科学和安全工程的有前途的跨学科方法回答了市政危机管理的多方面问题。这个研究项目的总体目标有三个方面。首先，以2019冠状病毒病危机为例，了解城市政府危机管理和危机沟通的实践方法。第二，通过对比成熟的危机管理模式来反映这些方法。第三，确定多元方法对公众和其他相关利益相关者的影响。项目采用混合方法设计：基于对官方行政文件和媒体报道内容分析的见解，对各市政部门代表进行半结构化访谈。此外，一项调查将针对公众，以深入了解对市政危机管理和危机沟通的看法。最后，将对定性和定量数据进行三角测量。KoViK提出了城市危机管理的理论模型，根据经验收集和评估的数据，通过提供专业化和制度化的建议，支持后者更好地为未来的危机做好准备。中心议题是危机管理人员操作的技术、组织和社会嵌入，包括与当地居民的危机沟通，融入日常工作环境，以避免由于缺乏知识和罕见的危机事件而产生过多的需求。

Due to COVID-19, public administrations of municipalities in Germany are in crisis mode since many months. Crisis mode means here: They meet the pandemic situation by adopting special organizational structures and processes that are designed for crisis management. However, media repeatedly points to inconsistent administrative approaches across different municipalities. This becomes apparent in the diversity of official rules, regulations, and statements in communication with the public. A popular request is a uniform approach on the federal level.Crisis management and crisis communication by municipal administrations is an under-explored topic – compared to classic organizations of crisis management (e.g., police, emergency medical services, fire brigade, etc.). KoViK answers the multifaceted aspects of municipal crisis management with a promising interdisciplinary approach combining social science and safety engineering. The overall aim of the research project is threefold. First, by using the example of the COVID-19 crisis, to gain insights into practiced approaches of crisis management and crisis communication of municipal administrations. Second, to reflect these approaches by contrasting well-established crisis management modes. Third, to identify consequences of pluralistic approaches for the public and other stakeholders involved.The project uses a mixed-method design: Based on insights of content analyses regarding official administrative documents and media reports, semi-structured interviews will be conducted with representatives of various municipal administrations. Furthermore, a survey will address the public in order to gain insight into perceptions to municipal crisis management and crisis communications. Finally, qualitative and quantitative data will be triangulated.KoViK results in theoretical models for municipal crisis management that support the latter to better prepare for future crises by providing recommendations for professionalization and institutionalization, based on empirically collected and evaluated data. Central topics are the technical, organizational and social embedding of the crisis management staff operations, including crisis communication with the local population, into the daily work context in order to avoid excessive demands due to lack of knowledge and rarity of crisis events.