Governing physical school security in Europe: a comparative analysis of institutional frameworks and risk governance

Abstract Violent incidents in educational institutions have intensified political and societal attention to the protection of schools across Europe. Although national policies increasingly introduce physical security measures, considerably less attention has been devoted to how these measures are institutionally organised and governed. This study examines how physical school security is institutionally framed across nine European education systems and identifies the governance arrangements through which regulatory responsibilities, protective measures, and crisis preparedness are organised. The study employs a qualitative comparative analysis of national legislative and policy documents from France, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Austria, Czechia, and the Slovak Republic. Drawing on an analytical framework grounded in risk governance and institutional governance, the analysis compares four dimensions of school security governance: legislative and regulatory frameworks, institutional responsibilities, protective measures, and crisis preparedness. The findings demonstrate that European countries adopt broadly similar categories of physical protection, including access control, surveillance technologies, emergency planning, and preparedness activities. However, the principal differences lie not in the protective measures themselves but in the institutional arrangements through which they are regulated, coordinated, and implemented. The comparative analysis identifies three recurring governance patterns: Centralised Security Governance, Integrated Safety–Security Governance, and Framework-based Governance. The study contributes to the literature by conceptualising physical school security as a question of institutional governance rather than solely of protective technologies or security measures. The proposed governance typology provides a comparative analytical framework for examining how education systems organise physical school security and offers a basis for future comparative research and evidence-informed policy development.