Promoting the 7 Blue Zone principles of healthy lifestyle
Living Blue Zone is a non-profit organization founded by Professor Michel Poulain, initiator of the concept of Blue Zone. Our approach is inspired by those regions of the world where people live longer, healthier lives in harmony with their environment.
About
What we do
Through our initiatives, events, and collaborations, we promote the 7 Blue Zone Principles and together weave the blue thread of a more vibrant, fairer, and above all, happier society.
Our Mission &Vision
Our mission is to support projects in Europe and around the world that are aligned with the 7 Blue Zone Principles observed by Professor Michel Poulain, in order to put health, relationships with others, and meaning in life back at the heart of our environments, encourage individual and collective choices that rebuild connections, and help individuals, companies, and communities make concrete changes to their lifestyles.
Our community
The Living Blue Zone is a growing community — a living web connecting people and projects inspired by the Blue Zone philosophy.
Together, we weave the blue thread of a healthier and happier world.
Who we are
Michel Poulain
President &Co-Founder
An astrophysicist turned demographer, Michel has devoted himself to better understanding the mysteries of human longevity. As a researcher at the FNRS, he first contributed to improving statistics on international migration before becoming fascinated, in 1992, by centenarians. In the spring of 2000, he was the one who traced the very first Blue Zone in the mountains of Sardinia with a blue felt-tip pen. Since then, he has identified four other regions of the world where people live long and happy lives. Today, he devotes all his energy to sharing the 7 principles of long, happy and healthy living observed in these communities. It is in this spirit that he enthusiastically created and presides over Living Blue Zone International, to spread this philosophy throughout our modern societies.
Émilie Goffin
Secretary & Co-Founder
A sociologist (Paris Nanterre University) and demographer (Catholic University of Louvain), Émilie specialises in managing projects with a strong social impact. A professor at a higher education institution for tourism in Wallonia and training manager in Namur, she combines academic rigour with practical experience. A collaborator of Michel’s since 1998, she is now the administrator-secretary of Living Blue Zone International, where she coordinates activities and actively participates in conferences and workshops. Committed, inspiring and pragmatic, she embodies the spirit of transmission and action of the project.
Dominique Honhon
Treasurer &Co-Founder
With a background in tourism, Dominique began her career at the King Baudouin Foundation, dedicated to serving the common good. After several years devoted to raising her three children, she joined a ministerial cabinet, where she observed the political and social dynamics that shape collective life.
Guided by a quest for meaning and balance, she trained as a hypnotherapist to support people through life transitions, helping them restore inner coherence and vitality.
Her journey naturally led her to the Blue Zones and to the creation of Living Blue Zone International, alongside Professor Michel Poulain.
Driven by a desire to bring people together and inspire transformation, she helps guide the project with coherence, integrity, and presence — fostering conscious, connected communities that contribute to a more balanced and sustainable society.
Myriam De Mulder
Executive Director & Co-Founder
After a brilliant career in tourism — notably as head of the British Tourist Office in Brussels — Myriam chose to continue her career by placing people at the centre of her priorities. Gifted in communication and driven by a rare empathy, she now puts her experience at the service of Living Blue Zone. As Michel’s life partner, she also shares his passion for happy longevity. As the day-to-day manager of the non-profit organisation, she supports initiatives that promote the seven principles of healthy living and helps to embed this movement in everyday life.
The Blue Thread
The Art of Living Longer and Better
University of Salamanca
Living Blue Zone Ambassador in Brazil – Marie Stas
When Brazil Turns Blue.
The Travelers’ Table – The Merode, Brussels, September 8, 2025
Blue Zones: Preserving, Protecting and Bringing Their Teachings to Life
About Pr. Michel Poulain
Demographer, world explorer, initiator of the concept of Blue Zone, and promotor of a healthy lifestyle.
His career, both scientific and deeply human, embodies the alliance between rigor and intuition, curiosity and wisdom. A demographer by training, he has devoted his life to exploring what it means to “age well”, meeting with people who live longer, healthier lives in all corners of the world.
It was through his research on centenarians that he identified the population of Sardinia, Okinawa, Nicoya, Ikaria and more recently Martinique, as a Blue Zone with exceptional longevity.
Longevity Blue Zone
Professor Michel Poulain