Reform of the Grassroots Emergency Management System from the Perspective of Collaborative Governance

China is one of the countries most severely affected by natural disasters, which are characterized by diverse types, wide distribution, and high frequency. As the cornerstone and first line of defense of the emergency management system, grassroots emergency management plays a decisive role in determining disaster evolution and loss outcomes. However, current grassroots emergency management still faces challenges such as insufficient functional integration, difficulties in institutional operation, and inadequate collaborative governance. Drawing on nationwide statistical data, policy document analysis, and an in-depth county-level case study of District W, we conduct a process-based analysis of grassroots emergency management system reform. The case analysis systematically examines the reform’s background, implementation practices, and post-reform constraints, with particular attention to functional integration, institutional materialization, and coordination mechanisms. On this basis, a problem-oriented reform framework is proposed from the perspective of collaborative governance, based on empirical diagnosis and theoretical synthesis. The proposed framework focuses on integrating grassroots emergency management functions, advancing the substantive operation of grassroots emergency management institutions, and establishing a multi-stakeholder collaborative governance mechanism. The study suggests that collaborative governance provides a practical and effective framework for addressing structural constraints in grassroots emergency management and for enhancing its overall effectiveness and sustainability.