Italian mayors and the management of COVID-19: adaptive leadership for organizing local governance

Garavaglia, Christian; Sancino, Alessandro and Trivellato, Benedetta (2021). Italian mayors and the management of COVID-19: adaptive leadership for organizing local governance. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 62(1) pp. 76–92.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15387216.2020.1845222

Abstract

Drawing on a survey of 25 mayors of municipalities belonging to the Metropolitan City of Milan, Italy this paper presents an investigation into the main problems they faced during Phase 1 (lockdown) and Phase 2 (post-lockdown, pre-vaccine); the leadership actions they implemented in Phases 1 and 2; and the leadership actions they would prioritize in case of a new emergency. The results contribute to the building of knowledge on local governance and leadership models – specifically regarding conditions of emergency. Four key issues emerged: (i) the importance of adaptive leadership and of anticipatory governance frameworks aimed at providing direction in situations of emergency (e.g. what to do in case of scarce mask availability and/or of local coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19] hotspots); (ii) the importance of promoting institutional spaces for cooperation and collaboration with citizens in their role as volunteers and of other organizational stakeholders willing to contribute to public value co-creation; (iii) the role of technology as an enabler and medium for sharing information and crowdsourcing resources; and (iv) the importance of safe and trusted platforms for knowledge sharing among the mayors and with the relevant organizational stakeholders.

Viewing alternatives

Metrics

Item Actions

Export

You can export this page using these formats Digital Object Identifier - DOI