In a series of special podcasts “MIPIM Leaders’ Perspectives” about the future of real estate post Covid-19, senior level leaders shared their predictions and insights with Courtney Fingar, Editor-in-Chief at Investment Monitor. In an informal and friendly environment, leading investors, developers, brokers and others in the real estate value chain will predict future developments.
Nick Buettner: creating more blue zones
In the world, there are several “blue zones”, places like Okinawa in Japan; Sardinia in Italy; Nicoya in Costa Rica, or Icaria in Greece, where a higher than usual number of people live much longer than average.
Nick Buettner has visited them all, with one goal: learn where does this longer life expectancy comes from, and bring these longevity lessons to communities across the United States.
Nick is the vice-president of community engagement at a company very conveniently called “Blue Zones”.
Are you ready to be a centenarian? Because Nick makes it sounds easy.
We are trying to get upstream. Because if you take a hard look at healthcare in America today, people tend to wait until they get sick to get pills or a procedure: they don’t try to prevent the problems by living a healthier life.
Nick Buettner, Vice President of Blue Zones
Because there are no crazy surprises in what Nick and his brother Dan discovered by traveling the world since 1999. There are just 9 commonalities, 9 identical lifestyle traits to be found in these blue zones.
For example, they move around more: walking to school or their friend’s houses, biking to where they need to go. They have a mostly plant-based diet: they are not vegan or vegetarian, but they just eat way more fruits and vegetables than meat. People in blue zones also have a strong sense of purpose and a support network.
Simple things that are making all the difference.
So now, the company Blue Zones is trying to share the learning with communities across America. But in the end, it’s not as easy as it sounds: « Our communities are built around cars. They are not designed for biking or walking ». So Nick and his brother are undertaking a cultural change of a sort. One where good health, life expectancy, and happiness are all intertwined.
Discover more interviews on Leaders Perspectives, here.
To learn everything about senior level leaders, you can follow this link to hear our full interviews with:
– Rachel Armstrong
– Ed Parsons
– Hélène Chartier
– Rob Hopkins
