Partnering with Blue Zones Project represents a multi-year commitment by communities to transform well-being. Local teams are hired, steering and leadership committees are formed, and volunteers are engaged to develop custom local blueprints that inform action plans during the initial phase of the project. This collective group of stakeholders work together with the aim of creating measurable well-being change, ultimately qualifying the community to become a certified Blue Zones Community^®.

 

The certification process verifies that a community has reached the tipping point required to sustain long-term change. When a community meets criteria that substantiate a significant and measurable improvement in overall health and well-being, along with evidence of environmental change, they have the opportunity to become certified.

 

Achieving certification takes effort and collaboration across a community. It’s the culmination of months of involvement and activity. To become certified is to have accomplished something big: a visible transformation in an area where healthy choices are easier, well-being is on the rise, and people, places, and policy support sustainable change. 

 

 

In 2015, Klamath Falls was selected to be the first Blue Zones Project demonstration site in the Pacific Northwest. Since then, local leaders, volunteers, and organizations throughout the community have worked to achieve certification status. As a result of its efforts, Klamath Falls can celebrate:

• More than $1.3 million in grant funding to support community well-being projects including Safe Routes to Parks, Safe Routes to Schools, a Cigarette Litter Prevention Program (resulting in a nearly 80 percent reduction in tobacco litter downtown), supporting a preventative food pantry, increasing way-finding signage, and increasing park access.
• New ordinances that are paving the way for smoking cessation and tobacco prevention through smoke-free city parks, smoke-free events, and increased education around smoking cessation, leading to a 24 percent decrease in smoking rates since 2015.
• New city policies that support healthy eating through the creation of the county food policy council, the county nutrition options resolution, and the adoption of many healthy meeting protocols in workplaces across the community.
• Increased physical activity among approximately 4,400 students in the local schools by participating in Walking School Bus Days.
• Twelve approved restaurants that offer a combined 37 new healthier menu items for adults and children. Klamath Falls has also become home to a vegan eatery and juicing company, offering even more options to the community’s residents.
• Increased demand for produce, which prompted a regionally owned grocery store to increase its produce section resulting in a 12% increase in produce sales.
• More than 1,113 individuals joined a Moai^® walking group that promotes building friendships and moving naturally.
• More than 715 individuals have volunteered to support the Blue Zones Project in Klamath Falls.

 

Local leaders, volunteers, and organizations throughout Umpqua Valley have been working to achieve Certification status since 2017. The community has undergone a neighborhood-by-neighborhood transformation, exceeding targets set to engage individuals and organizations and implementing best practices in city policy changes.

 

As a result of its efforts, the Umpqua Valley can celebrate the following outcomes:

• Downtown business renewal: The number of businesses in downtown Roseburg increased from 180 in 2017 to 196 in 2020, while $2.7 million has been invested in downtown business since 2017 through urban renewal funds.
• Decreased food insecurity: According to Feeding America data, food insecurity among adults in Douglas County has decreased from 16 percent in 2017 to 14.7 percent in 2019. Food insecurity among children has also decreased from 27.7 percent in 2017 to 22.3 percent in 2019.
• Decreased childhood obesity: The percentage of 11th graders at a healthy weight has increased from 60.9 percent in 2017 to 64.8 percent in 2019.
• More smoke-free areas: The number of smoke-free areas in the Roseburg community increased from 24 in 2017 to 33 in 2020.
• Increased Volunteerism: The number of Blue Zones Project active volunteers and volunteer hours has risen significantly, with 881 residents volunteering 5,359 hours through 2019, an increase of 45 percent in the number of volunteers and 96 percent in the number of hours volunteered since 2017. In total, volunteers have donated more than a year’s worth of time giving back to the community.

Read about the Umpqua Valley certification 

 

In 2017, Blue Zones Project Central Maui’s residents, schools, employers, restaurants, grocery stores, and community leaders worked collaboratively on policies and programs that improved health and well-being.

 

As a result of its efforts, Central Maui can celebrate the following outcomes:

• Updated street design guide to align with Complete Streets policy, including support and advocating for Maui’s first roundabout
• Created Maui Nui Food Alliance to support food sustainability in Maui County
• Twenty-one businesses donated 3,272 pounds of healthy food during a Give Healthy Food Drive in 2019 which has become an annual campaign
• Passage of county laws banning smoking in cars with minors present and included vaping in county smoking ordinance
• Addition of 21.6 miles of new bike lanes countywide
• Central Maui has outperformed the state of Hawaii’s well-being trends since the baseline year of 2017, seeing 4.4 percent fewer health risks than expected if the community had followed state trends.
• More than 18,000 Central Maui residents (1 out of 3 people) engaged with Blue Zones Project and embraced Power 9® principles.

 

Interested in learning more about our community transformation process?