As crises grow more complex and cross-cutting, the need for coordinated, legitimate, and effective policy responses has never been greater. The LEGITIMULT project—funded by the European Union and SERI—hosted a thought-provoking three-part webinar series between May and July 2025, aimed at practitioners navigating the challenges of legitimacy, coordination, and crisis governance in multilevel systems.

1. Acting Legitimately in Times of Crisis (22 May 2025)
The series kicked off by exploring how governments can uphold legitimacy while making swift decisions under pressure. Speakers discussed the tension between democratic accountability and emergency powers, offering insights into maintaining trust across government levels during crises.

2. Economic & Social Responses to Covid-19 in European Multilevel Systems (24 June 2025)
This session delved into how European countries handled the socio-economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants reflected on what worked—and what didn’t—in coordinating responses across regions, highlighting the uneven impacts and the importance of multilevel solidarity.

3. Intergovernmental Coordination in Crisis Management: Lessons from Canada and Europe (22 July 2025)
The final webinar broadened the scope, comparing European approaches with Canada’s federal system. It offered practical lessons on how different levels of government can align their actions and communicate effectively during emergencies.

These dialogues provided a crucial platform for knowledge exchange among policymakers, researchers, and civil society. They emphasized that effective crisis management in federal and multilevel systems depends not only on coordination but also on preserving democratic legitimacy and social trust.