Facilitative governance: Transforming global health through complexity theory

Abstract

Any initiative to coordinate actions, plans, or initiatives to improve the interaction between global health stakeholders finds itself feeding into a vastly complex global system. By utilising complexity theory as part of a new scientific paradigm, complex adaptive behaviour can emerge to create coherence. A suggested global health convention facilitating incremental regime development could be a way to create good governance processes. Minimum specifications could provide wide space for innovation and encourage shared action. Such specifications would be both a product of, and a facilitator for, future generative relationships. The potential empowerment of individuals as a result of this has the potential to transform global health by creating an arena for continual cooperation, interaction and mutual dependence among global stakeholders.

Keywords:

• global health
• governance
• complexity theory
• complex adaptive systems
• global health convention