In February, Ewout and Kaylyn spent five days immersed in the Winter School Crisis Governance, organized by the Chair of Crisis Governance at the University of Antwerp. For the PM colleagues, for whom crisis management is part of everyday work, the experience felt both familiar and refreshing. New insights, inspiring speakers, and a solid dose of motivation. Read here how they experienced the week.
Day 1 – Crisis as a concept: more than a buzzword
The Winter School kicked off with a thorough yet eye-opening reality check. Prof. Dr. Hugo Marynissen and Prof. Dr. Steven van den Oord guided us through the world of turbulence, disruption, shocks, and… crisis. What does “crisis” actually mean? When does an incident become a disruption, and when does a disruption turn into a crisis? It may sound theoretical, but it immediately set the tone: crisis governance is not a checklist, but a way of looking at the world.
Crisis Communications with Stijn
One of the highlights was, of course, Stijn’s session. With 22 years of experience in crisis communication, he delivered a story that was sharp, human, and highly applicable at the same time. From Normal Chaos Theory and Disaster Incubation Theory to the Golden Triangle of crisis management, Stijn demonstrated how communication in a crisis is not a side issue, but a strategic instrument that can save lives, protect reputations, and above all bring calm when chaos becomes the norm.
He guided us through the crisis communication workflow that PM has implemented in more than 100 organizations: how to structure information, how to translate decisions into clear messages, and how to maintain consistent communication as a team under pressure. The case surrounding the 2016 attacks made this strikingly clear. For Ewout and me, it was familiar territory, but also a push to further refine our own approach.
Day 2 – The Operational Dimension: Command, Control & Coordination
Zone Commander Bert Brugghemans of the Antwerp Fire Brigade gave us a glimpse into the real frontline of crisis response. No theory, but the day-to-day reality of someone who leads in situations where every second counts. Bert showed how to bring structure into chaos, how to organize a crisis team, and how to create calm as a leader when everything is in motion. His examples from firefighting made it immediately clear how crucial command, control, and coordination are when everything happens at once.
Crisis Strategy in the Port and at the Airport
In the afternoon, we headed to the Port House for an excursion with Niels Vanlaer and Robby Testard. They offered insight into Business Continuity Management within two of Belgium’s most complex infrastructures: the Port of Antwerp-Bruges and Brussels Airport. We learned how they deal with risks ranging from cyberattacks to natural phenomena and organized crime. What stood out most: resilience is not a document, but a culture, a way of working that everyone in the organization must embody.
Day 3 – Organizational Resilience: a look at how organizations truly become stronger
The session by Prof. Juan Manuel Domínguez-Ortega and Prof. Dr. Hugo Marynissen offered a particularly insightful perspective on organizational resilience. Not an abstract concept, but a capability that organizations can develop step by step. Using Duchek’s framework, they showed how resilience emerges from three sequential capabilities: anticipating weak signals and changes, coping when an unexpected disruption actually occurs, and adapting in order to move forward stronger and smarter after a crisis. It became clear that resilience is not built during a crisis, but beforehand, through a broad knowledge base, sufficient resources, strong social networks, and shared responsibility.
Day 4 – Networks as the foundation of crisis governance
Prof. Dr. Steven van den Oord and Ben Windey delivered a session that truly shifted our thinking. Crises do not stop at the boundaries of an organizational chart, so effective crisis response cannot either. We explored how organizations collaborate in networks, how trust is built, and how shared risks require shared solutions.
The case of the Firefighting Network Zeehaven-Schelde was a great example of how public and private actors can jointly create a robust safety net. It reinforced how crucial strong relationships and well-organized collaboration are in tackling a crisis. Or as Stijn likes to say: “It’s not what you know, but who you know.”
Dr. Fabian Steinmann built further on the work of Juan Manuel Domínguez-Ortega and Prof. Dr. Hugo Marynissen. He demonstrated how strategy is never separate from day-to-day operations: decisions about priorities, resources, and risks directly shape how an organization responds when pressure rises. Using concrete examples, he showed how misalignment between strategic intent and “work as done” creates vulnerabilities, and how leadership and governance make the difference precisely at that intersection. His focus on adaptive leadership, social cohesion, and systems thinking made it clear that resilience is not a coincidental byproduct, but the result of deliberate design choices: from recognizing weak signals to creating buffer capacity and supporting teams in high-pressure situations.
With examples from the aviation sector, he illustrated how crucial it is to detect signals early, understand how work actually happens (not just how it is described on paper), and empower teams so they can improvise when plans fail.
The group assignment: collaborating under time pressure
The group assignment ran as a continuous thread throughout the week: analyzing, structuring, discussing, and translating our insights into a clear presentation. On Tuesday evening, we presented our first case, the assignment we had prepared in advance, clearly and confidently. But just when we thought the work was done, the surprise came: we were dropped into a completely new case. No preparation, no context, just “here is the situation, your team is up.” It almost felt like a real crisis: limited time, unclear information, and the need to quickly align as a team. Precisely because of that, it turned out to be such a valuable exercise, a mini stress test that forced us to immediately apply everything we had learned that week.
What we take back to PM
The Winter School confirmed something we experience at PM every day: crisis governance is not a procedure or a checklist, but a way of looking, collaborating, and making decisions. We returned home with new insights on networks and resilience, practical tools to structure chaos, and fresh ideas that we are eager to bring into practice right away.
