Blue Zones Project®
We’ve launched an initiative in communities nationwide that makes healthy choices easier through permanent changes to environment, policy and social networks.
Our Approach
The Blue Zones Project® is dedicated to creating a nation of Blue Zones communities – healthier cities, states and businesses where people live longer, better.
Led by New York Times best selling author Dan Buettner, our company has developed an evidence-based program that uses the secrets of the “Blue Zones” to transform communities.
In a time-intensive process, we engage with communities. We listen. We research. We earn trust. Then working with citizens, schools, employers, restaurants, grocery stores and civic leaders, we develop customized programs tailored for each community.
Ultimately, our proven interventions create environments that nudge people toward healthier choices every day.
What We Do
Our program is based on the assumption that we spend 90% of our lives in a 20-mile “Life Radius®”. Within that life radius we focus on optimizing:
The built environment: Improving roads and transportation options, parks, and public spaces
Municipal policies and ordinances: Promoting activity and discouraging junk food marketing and smoking
Restaurants, schools, grocery stores and workplaces: Building healthier options into the places people spend most of their time
Social networks: Forming and nurturing social groups that support healthy habits
Habitat: Helping people design homes that nudge them into eating less and moving more.
Inner selves: Encouraging people to reduce stress, find their purpose, and give back to the community.
The Blue Zones Project® has had significant impact to date; having reached around 3.4 million lives across 42 communities in nine states to date.
Why it Works
Rather than relying on individual behavior change, the program focuses on making the healthy choice the easy choice. Instead of nagging people to exercise, we make walking easier and more desirable than driving. By making wholesome foods more accessible and less expensive than junk foods, people begin to eat healthier naturally.
Our approach is based on the cornerstone of sustainability. Unlike other health or wellness initiatives we address the environment not just the individual, resulting in long-term impact that stands the test of time.
Project Success
$12 Million savings in annual healthcare costs in the Beach Cities of California
15% drop in obesity in Iowa City from 2014 to 2015
44% of the adult population of Albert Lea participated in walking moais, logging over 75 million steps in one year
Albert Lea participating businesses saw 21% decline in absenteeism
More than 3 billion media impressions to date.
