In the safety domain important developments are currently taking place concerning the way in which administrative and tactical operations are dealt with in crises. It is characteristic for the approach that cooperation in chains and networks is increasingly needed to arrive at a suitable approach. In this essay, the authors analyse two subdomains in two concrete cases on how cooperation between several parties takes shape and functions. For that purpose, they differentiate between acute and non-acute crises. In the subdomain ‘acute crises’, they have chosen the case of the Dutch town Moerdijk (the fire at the Chemie-Pack company in 2011). In the subdomain of non-acute crises, they focus on community safety partnerships (‘Veiligheidshuizen’), especially on the community safety partnership in the Dutch province of Friesland (‘Veiligheidshuis Friesland’). In both subdomains the establishment of a good basic cooperation and leadership structure appears to be of prime importance. From there it is necessary to respond in a flexible manner (to be able to execute custom-made work). Within that framework, the capacity may develop to arrange a well-structured and effective cooperation at the operational level (ad hoc in acute crises), to monitor progress properly and to carry out targeted interventions if the developments in the situation ask for these interventions. A good knowledge of each other’s frame of reference is necessary to make this work, so that a maximum level of integration in the approach is achieved.

Good governance takes a central role in development policy. A considerable amount of development aid is used to support anti-corruption initiatives, democratisation, or the improvement of public administration. The number of governance indicators has grown tremendously, and these indicators appear to play an ever more important role in aid allocation. These indicators, however, are not value-free and reflect a certain view of good governance, one that is furthermore changing continuously. In this article, we first use the ever-expanding literature to explore how donors define ‘good governance’, and how it is measured. We subsequently analyse whether good governance really matters for development. Finally, we look at international experiences with good governance promotion, and the value tensions inherent to this process.