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Sustainability
Volume 18
Issue 16
10.3390/su18168044
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Article

Reform of the Grassroots Emergency Management System from the Perspective of Collaborative Governance

by
Jing Chen
1,2,†,
Kedi Wang
3,*,†,
Siquan Yang
1,2,*,
Hongyong Yuan
3,
Hongquan Sun
1,2,
Guofeng Su
3,
Zhonggen Wang
1,2,
Tao Chen
3,
Xuecai Xie
4 and
Xingli Peng
5
1
National Institute of Natural Hazards, Ministry of Emergency Management of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing 100085, China
2
Key Laboratory of Compound and Chained Natural Hazards Dynamics, Beijing 100085, China
3
School of Safety Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
4
School of Engineering and Technology, China University of Geosciences Beijing, Beijing100083, China
5
Beidaihe Rehabilitation Institute, Ministry of Emergency Management of the People’s Republic of China, Qinhuangdao 066199, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Sustainability 2026, 18(16), 8044; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18168044
Submission received: 24 December 2025 / Revised: 5 March 2026 / Accepted: 16 March 2026 / Published: 7 August 2026
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ergonomics for a Sustainable Digital Age: Human-Centred Design for Social, Economic, and Human Wellbeing)
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Abstract

China is one of the countries most severely affected by natural disasters, which are characterized by diverse types, wide distribution, and high frequency. As the cornerstone and first line of defense of the emergency management system, grassroots emergency management plays a decisive role in determining disaster evolution and loss outcomes. However, current grassroots emergency management still faces challenges such as insufficient functional integration, difficulties in institutional operation, and inadequate collaborative governance. Drawing on nationwide statistical data, policy document analysis, and an in-depth county-level case study of District W, we conduct a process-based analysis of grassroots emergency management system reform. The case analysis systematically examines the reform’s background, implementation practices, and post-reform constraints, with particular attention to functional integration, institutional materialization, and coordination mechanisms. On this basis, a problem-oriented reform framework is proposed from the perspective of collaborative governance, based on empirical diagnosis and theoretical synthesis. The proposed framework focuses on integrating grassroots emergency management functions, advancing the substantive operation of grassroots emergency management institutions, and establishing a multi-stakeholder collaborative governance mechanism. The study suggests that collaborative governance provides a practical and effective framework for addressing structural constraints in grassroots emergency management and for enhancing its overall effectiveness and sustainability.
Keywords: grassroots emergency management; functional integration; institutional operation; collaborative governance; structural reform grassroots emergency management; functional integration; institutional operation; collaborative governance; structural reform

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MDPI and ACS Style

Chen, J.; Wang, K.; Yang, S.; Yuan, H.; Sun, H.; Su, G.; Wang, Z.; Chen, T.; Xie, X.; Peng, X. Reform of the Grassroots Emergency Management System from the Perspective of Collaborative Governance. Sustainability 2026, 18, 8044. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18168044

AMA Style

Chen J, Wang K, Yang S, Yuan H, Sun H, Su G, Wang Z, Chen T, Xie X, Peng X. Reform of the Grassroots Emergency Management System from the Perspective of Collaborative Governance. Sustainability. 2026; 18(16):8044. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18168044

Chicago/Turabian Style

Chen, Jing, Kedi Wang, Siquan Yang, Hongyong Yuan, Hongquan Sun, Guofeng Su, Zhonggen Wang, Tao Chen, Xuecai Xie, and Xingli Peng. 2026. "Reform of the Grassroots Emergency Management System from the Perspective of Collaborative Governance" Sustainability 18, no. 16: 8044. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18168044

APA Style

Chen, J., Wang, K., Yang, S., Yuan, H., Sun, H., Su, G., Wang, Z., Chen, T., Xie, X., & Peng, X. (2026). Reform of the Grassroots Emergency Management System from the Perspective of Collaborative Governance. Sustainability, 18(16), 8044. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18168044

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