Learning and crisis coordination: Experiences from the Balkan refugee route

Abstract

Recent cases of crisis and disaster responses highlight the difficulties of making coordinated responses when public and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from different backgrounds are involved. In particular, when crises traverse organizational, national, and temporal boundaries, the transboundary nature of crises poses increasing problems for responders. This study examines coordination and learning in response to the unexpected mass movements of asylum seekers and refugees along the Balkan route during the 2015–2016 international refugee crisis. Our analysis uses data from 53 interviews and six focus groups with individuals involved in managing the crisis along the Balkan refugee route. The qualitative analysis shows that coordination and learning change over the course of this crisis in three major phases: chaos, settling in, and exit. While the initial response to a crisis leaves little room for sophisticated coordination and organizational learning, the introduction of more formalized coordination mechanisms can take place at the later stages. By showing that generative learning at these later stages of a crisis needs to be expanded, this study demonstrates the need for creating mechanisms for collecting and conserving knowledge during future crises and for transferring best practices from one country to another.