Grand Forks, N. The Blue Zones Project is a comprehensive initiative that will use an evidence-based approach to transform the environments in which people live, work, learn and play to measurably improve well-being, economic vitality and resilience. This exciting public-private partnership is a model for what other cities and states can do with the right forward-thinking leadership and planning, and will make Grand Forks a standalone demonstration project for the upper Midwest.
Doug Burgum. A first-of-its-kind population health initiative, the Blue Zones Project is based on research and principles developed by Dan Buettner, a National Geographic Fellow and New York Times best-selling author, who identified the cultures of the world—or blue zones—with the healthiest, longest-living populations. For the first time, life expectancy and quality of life in the U.
Research indicates where people live has a bigger influence on health than genetics, so the Blue Zones Project focuses on the single largest determinant of health: the places people live.
This is especially important in a time when frontline workers are so deserving of every support we can give them. Blue Zones Project has worked in 70 cities in the U.
Participating communities have seen double-digit drops in obesity and smoking rates, economic investment in downtown corridors, grant-funding awards to support policies and programs aimed at improving health equity and millions of dollars of savings in health care costs. We have high hopes for how this project will positively influence the lives of our neighbors in the Near North neighborhood, which has been identified as the place for the highest opportunity and where we will begin our work with the Blue Zones Project.
