Origins
Have you ever wondered what it would take for people to stop throwing trash into a creek or to appreciate the beauty of a river while quickly passing by on an urban trail?
Blue Index started in 2016 to contemplate these questions and to measure the impact of Austin’s waterscapes on the emotional state of those who experience them. It explores a concept developed by Dr. Wallace J. Nichols called Blue Mind, in which he identifies the many benefits of being in, near, and around water. Dr. Nichols defines Blue Mind as having a “mildly meditative state characterized by calm, peace, unity, and a sense of happiness and satisfaction with life in the moment.”
As the project evolved, it became clear that the outcomes provided numerous benefits for communities and city managers alike. Blue Index demonstrates that a single project can use art, technology, and people power to reimagine how urban waterways are designed and maintained, how the public interacts with them, and how communities can participate in a conversation to protect the waters that matter to them.
“With widespread usage, Blue Index could become a national index, like walkability, that inspires local governments to take action to secure a high score, and informs individual choices about where to live and recreate, and what to do today.”
— Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, Author of Blue Mind
Vision
We envision waterscape design that is centered on equitable human health and community wellbeing. We strive to promote widespread implementation of this model through participatory processes that rely on local communities to play an essential role in monitoring and protecting the waters most important to them and decision-makers to incorporate participant feedback into water management.
We recognize our interconnected relationship to each other, to our shared waters and lands, and to all living things. This recognition is crucial to understanding and implementing robust design centered on equitable human health and to ensuring that what’s healthy for humans is also healthy for the ecosystems that we inhabit.
We are dedicated to expanding public participation in water management, understanding how water health impacts emotional health, and promoting design centered on equitable water access and community wellbeing.
Team
We are a small team based in Juneau, Alaska - home of the Áak’w Kwáan and T’aakú Kwáan - a place as much water as it is land. We enjoy spending time outdoors getting to know the incredible place we call home and the communities with whom we share it. We’re committed to connecting people to water and to each other in healthy and equitable ways and continuing to grow Blue Index.
Kevin Jeffery • Co-Founder & Project Director
Kevin founded Blue Index when he moved from Washington D.C. to Austin, Texas in 2016 to pursue his master’s degree in landscape architecture at the University of Texas, Austin. In 2017, he was awarded the Garden Club of America’s Douglas Dockery Thomas Fellowship in Garden History and Design for the Blue Index Project. He went on to earn the UT Austin Planet Texas 2050 Water Fellowship in 2018 as well as the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s Olmsted Scholar distinction and inaugural Emerging Leader Award from River Network in 2019.
Prior to graduate studies, Kevin worked in the environmental field in Washington D.C. where he acquired a unique set of skills in urban green infrastructure projects, non-profit advocacy, municipal governance, water management, community engagement, and youth development. Kevin graduated from UT Austin in May of 2019 and is now practicing landscape design in Juneau, Alaska. He hopes this project allows him to contribute to innovative efforts to improve and protect our planet.
Sarah Davidson • Co-Founder & Creative Director
Sarah’s passion dwells at the confluence of water, social justice, art, and systems thinking. She has worked on participatory water management on the Sarapiqui River in Costa Rica, the Nile Basin in East Africa, the Chesapeake Watershed in eastern United States, and with communities to advocate for the Inside Passage waters of Southeast Alaska. She has a bachelor’s degree in marine biology and a master’s degree in natural resources and sustainable development.
Sarah has provided creative support and direction to Blue Index since its inception in 2016. She is excited about the possibilities the project holds to amplify community voices in water management and shift the way we value and manage our shared waters. She sees it as a timely and creative solution to address many of today’s challenges by reconnecting communities with nature, decision-makers with communities, and water management with our collective health and wellbeing.