Shaping local disaster risk governance through multi-stakeholder collaboration: Insights from the public-private-civil partnership approach - Application to the case studies of the municipality of Egaleo (Greece) and Centro Region (Portugal)

Abstract

In the face of growing climate-related risks, traditional top-down models of risk governance increasingly appear inadequate for enabling effective and inclusive local resilience planning. The public-private-civil partnership (PPCP®) approach was developed to foster collaborative governance by involving stakeholders from the public, private, and civil society sectors in co-designing context-sensitive strategies. This article outlines the conceptual foundations and core principles of the PPCP®, based on a review of governance models and social innovation tools, and details its implementation through a series of locally organized Labs. Drawing on experience from two case studies areas (Egaleo in Greece and two municipalities in Portugal's Centro Region), it highlights outcomes such as improved cross-sector dialogue, the co-production of local knowledge, and more collaborative governance practices. The article also identifies key challenges, including low private sector involvement, institutional inertia, and limited civil society mobilization. It concludes with recommendations to overcome these barriers and strengthen the PPCP®’s transformative potential. These findings contribute to ongoing debates on local governance for climate resilience and propose pathways for embedding more inclusive and adaptive participatory processes.