Presenting a Green Governance Model in the National Health System (Case Study: Ministry of Health and Medical Education)
Keywords:
Green policymaking, Environmental sustainability, and Medical Education, Treatment, Ministry of Health, Health system, Green governanceAbstract
This study aims to design and conceptualize a comprehensive green governance model for institutionalizing environmental sustainability principles within the policymaking, decision-making, and operational structures of Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education. Using a qualitative grounded theory approach, data were collected through 25 semi-structured expert interviews selected via snowball sampling alongside document analysis, and were systematically analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding using MAXQDA software, while trustworthiness was ensured through credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability criteria. The analysis yielded 398 open codes and 301 axial codes, resulting in a paradigmatic green governance model comprising causal conditions, contextual conditions, intervening conditions, strategic actions, and multidimensional outcomes; the findings indicate that effective green governance in the health sector depends on the systemic integration of green regulations, transparent governance, education and cultural transformation, advanced technologies, sustainable economic mechanisms, and active stakeholder participation, while being constrained by structural, financial, cultural, technological, and political barriers. The proposed model demonstrates that sustainable green governance in the health system can only be achieved through an integrated, multi-level, and participatory transformation that simultaneously reforms institutional frameworks, organizational culture, technological infrastructure, and economic incentives, thereby strengthening system resilience, public health outcomes, and long-term sustainable development.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Javad Zafarirad (Author); Alireza Mazidi; Elahe Masoumi (Author)
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