Michel Poulain, world reference in longevity, shares in Salamanca the keys to the Blue Zones

• The demographer Michel Poulain, co-creator of the Blue Zones, explained in Salamanca how certain territories in the world have turned longevity into a shared reality. His talk showed that living longer and better does not depend only on genetics or medicine, but also on social, cultural, and community factors that strengthen well-being.

• The cycle Conversations in Salamanca: Understanding Longevity once again brought together an international reference. After figures such as Juan Carlos Izpisúa, Pascal Bruckner, Tom Kirkwood, Aubrey de Grey, or Shlomo Benartzi, it was Poulain’s turn, who shared with the audience the keys to conscious longevity through the lessons of the Blue Zones.

The International Center on Aging (CENIE), promoted by the General Foundation of the University of Salamanca, hosted in a new chapter of Conversations in Salamanca: Understanding Longevity the Belgian demographer Michel Poulain, co-creator of the Blue Zones.

During his talk, Poulain explained why in certain places in the world —from Sardinia to Okinawa or Costa Rica— people reach very advanced ages with exceptional quality of life. The key, he said, is not chance, but healthy lifestyles, strong community ties, and social and cultural environments that sustain well-being.

The aim of the meeting was clear: to understand what we can learn from these communities and how to apply those lessons to build societies capable of promoting conscious and healthy longevity.

The initiative is part of the project New Long-lived Societies, approved within the framework of the Interreg VI-A Spain-Portugal Program (POCTEP), 2021-2027, of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). In this new session, writer and journalist Jesús Ruiz Mantilla was in charge of introducing and moderating.

From CENIE, the importance of Michel Poulain’s presence in Salamanca was underlined: “Dr. Poulain has shown us through the Blue Zones that longevity is not only a matter of genetics or medical advances, but also of how we live, how we care for each other, and how we build our community. The challenge is not only to add years to life, but to give quality to those years. For that we must learn from references like Poulain and his teachings. Our commitment is to work so that conscious longevity becomes a viable project, in which every stage has meaning.”

In his lecture Blue Zones: The Art of Living Longer and Better in Aging Societies, Poulain explained how the concept he identified together with Gianni Pes in Sardinia in 2000 has become a global reference. These territories show that longevity is not a random phenomenon, but the result of healthy lifestyles, solid community networks, and cultures of care that sustain well-being.

Emeritus professor at the Catholic University of Louvain and founder of the non-profit organization Living Blue Zone, Poulain highlighted during his talk the 7 keys of these places, which he seeks to transfer to all modern territories: “First, eat healthily, but without a special diet, simply don’t overdo it and consume local and natural food. Second, move, exercise, and it doesn’t have to be excessive, it can be something as simple as walking to work. Third, avoid stress as much as possible and sleep well. Fourth, maintain contact with family, which connects to the fifth key, which is to build community with the people around you, your friends, your neighbors… It is also important to respect the planet and nature and, finally, to have a purpose in life.”

CENIE has as one of its missions to support projects in Spain and Portugal aligned with the principles of the Blue Zones, to once again place health, longevity, and relationships at the center of the conversation, and to promote changes that allow people and communities to face the future with greater cohesion and well-being.

Michel Poulain

The Belgian demographer Michel Poulain is one of the great international references in the study of longevity. His name became forever linked to the Blue Zones after identifying in Sardinia, together with Gianni Pes, the first territory where the population reached exceptional ages with admirable quality of life. From there, his research extended to Okinawa (Japan), Nicoya (Costa Rica), and Loma Linda (United States), scientifically validating the age of centenarians and supercentenarians and showing that longevity is not the result of chance nor only of genetics, but the outcome of lifestyles, community bonds, and cultures of care.

Today, as emeritus professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, Poulain promotes the Living Blue Zone project, with which he seeks to transfer the lessons of these long-lived communities to urban contexts. His proposal combines prevention, social cohesion, and healthy habits, with a clear objective: that the increase in life expectancy becomes a true opportunity for shared well-being.

Watch the full video at the link.