Lumin helps Summerset create a more connected, more sustainable way to experience village life

Technology is playing an increasingly important role in how residents stay connected to village life at Summerset, with the rollout of Lumin – an easy-to-use digital hub for village updates, activities, entertainment, communication and safety.

A Good Design winning product designed specifically with older users in mind, Lumin can be accessed through a dedicated 17-inch touchscreen tablet or through an app on a personal device on residents own devices. It is now available across many Summerset villages and is expected to be available in remaining villages during 2026.

Through Lumin, residents can receive instant messages and alerts from their village team, read newsletters, view and book village activities, access entertainment and educational content, log maintenance requests, and connect with other residents, staff and family members.

Summerset Chief Operating Officer for New Zealand, Eleanor Young, says Lumin is helping enhance village life without replacing the personal connections that sit at the heart of Summerset communities.

“When we rolled out the Lumin communication platform, we wondered if people would just engage digitally, and whether that might impact social engagement, but it hasn’t,” Eleanor says. “If anything, residents feel more connected to the community. They can see photos from events and activities, even if they didn’t attend, and they can see what’s coming up and decide what they want to do together.”

Lumin is also helping Summerset teams share information more efficiently. Village teams can send updates at the touch of a button, activity coordinators can manage events and RSVPs through the platform, and property teams can view maintenance jobs logged by residents and prioritise workflows.

Alongside the resident experience benefits, Lumin is supporting Summerset’s sustainability efforts by reducing reliance on printed newsletters, notices, event schedules and booking sheets. Previously, many resident communications were hand delivered in hard copy or displayed on physical noticeboards. Moving more communications online helps reduce paper use, as well as the plastic and chemical waste associated with printers and toner cartridges.

In one village alone, delivering the monthly newsletter through Lumin has saved more than 21,000 pieces of paper, an estimated saving of around $1,500 a year. As more villages use Lumin, these savings are expected to grow, supporting Summerset’s wider focus on reducing waste and using resources more efficiently.

For Summerset, the value of Lumin is in bringing these benefits together: helping residents stay informed and involved, giving village teams a simpler way to communicate, and reducing the amount of printed material needed to support day-to-day village life.

“Residents want things to be easy and convenient,” Eleanor says. “Technology should improve the experience, not replace social interaction. Lumin gives residents another way to stay informed, take part and feel connected to their community, while also supporting the way we want to work as a business — more efficiently, more sustainably and always with our residents at the centre.”

Find out more about Lumin – https://mylumin.org