27 August 2025

With the new VNG guidance, municipalities are asked to organize resilience and recovery as an ongoing assignment. Not only does the acute response matter, but also the preparation in the cold phase, the first 72 hours, the longer warm phase, and the aftermath in which recovery and learning are central. The guidance positions municipalities as key players: they are closest to residents, mobilize local networks, and ensure that public services function even under pressure. The document is intentionally modular in design and intended to be translated and updated locally.

What the Guidance Requires – the Core of 41 Measures

The core of the guidance is a prioritized list of 41 measures, organized under six pillars. In addition to crisis organization, vital services, social fabric, self-sufficiency, and society as an overarching system, the continuity of the organization itself has been explicitly added as a central pillar. For each measure, it is indicated in which phase it is relevant, who is primarily responsible, and which partners provide support. The starting point is college-wide: resilience affects multiple domains and requires explicit choices about roles, capacity, and priority. The guidance emphasizes that municipalities must work both internally (processes and coordination) and externally (with partners and residents) to strengthen their resilience. Digitwin contributes by making risks and vulnerabilities visible and testable through simulation, allowing municipalities to identify gaps and strengthen them before crises strike.

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New VNG Guidance on Safety and Resilience; Digital Twin Gives Municipalities Immediate Perspective

What the Guidance Requires – the Core of 41 Measures