Rethinking Crisis Readiness Through Network Governance for Extreme Weather Events

Climate-related crises increasingly call for coordinated responses across multiple organisations. Drawing on crisis communication and network governance perspectives, this study considers how inter-organisational relationships enable collective crisis readiness during extreme weather events. Using a qualitative design, 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted with crisis communication scholars and practitioners and analysed through inductive thematic analysis. Data suggest that crisis readiness cannot be understood solely as an organisational attribute but is enacted through networks of collaborating actors. Four interrelated mechanisms emerged as critical for translating organisational preparedness into collective crisis response: inter-organisational efficacy, relational resilience, relational agility and collective learning. The study conceptualises relational readiness as a network-level condition that enables organisations to enact preparedness collectively and draws attention to the importance of inter-organisational relationships in climate-related emergencies.