Preparing for Disasters -Experiences of collaborative governance & coordination in Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Sammanfattning: Dhaka city and Bangladesh is unique in many ways. The country profile is most definitely an interesting case to study through the lenses of disaster management. In this thesis a framework or theories encompassing collaborative governance and coordination crisis- management networks is applied to the challenging context of Bangladesh. The study looks at themes such as ‘history of conflicts’, ‘trust building’, ‘power imbalances’, ‘comprehensive overview’ and crisis network variables like ‘complexity’ and ‘familiarity‘. The theory block is foremost gathered from Michael Hillyard, Naim Kapucu and Alison Gash and Chris Ansell. The study is based on interviews from individuals representing different types of organizations that have connections to coordination avenues. A thematic analysis approach is used to apply the theories on the empirics. Three research questions encapsulates the core of the study; what components stimulate collaborative governance theoretically and how does part- takers of disaster management in Dhaka perceive collaborative governance and coordination under disaster preparedness? Finally, how does the presented theories conform to the practises focused on coordination and collaborative governance when preparing for disasters in Dhaka, Bangladesh?    The study finds that the establishment of coordination avenues are evident in Dhaka and that the development of various parts of coordination activities is moving rather strong. The study show that many organizations are project- based in Dhaka and that competition over intellectual property and funding can work in both directions for coordination and collaborative governance. Either lowering the ambition for collaborations or increasing it. The study also confirms findings of previous coordination studies in Bangladesh that suggest that the institutional approach is very much individualistic which can, to some degree, hamper coordination activities. The study suggest that the system for coordination and its reach appears to be more established horizontally on a strategic level than on the vertical level. Coordination activities and collaborative governance also operates simultaneously in Dhaka, both vertically and horizontally. In closure the experiences of DM- employees in Dhaka suggest that earthquakes and droughts, or combinations of quakes and flooding may pose a serious challenge to the disaster management relief resources of Dhaka city.