A trip to NuMundo’s impact centers: regenerative living within everybody's reach

By Estelle on March 27, 2018

Today we are featuring another great project being translated on WebTranslateIt.com: NuMundo’s growing network of impact centers, connecting individuals around the world to places where they can live transformational experiences and learn the many different ways to lead a peaceful and eco-friendly life.

But what exactly is an impact center? It is a land based project that offers individual transformation, regenerative living education and strives to leave a positive local impact. An impact center could be an ecovillage, organic farm, yoga retreat center, or even a hostel.
Through their own exploration, NuMundo’s founders have found thousands of hubs globally that are examples of sustainable and holistic living, producing practical, low-cost solutions to the global climate crisis. These hubs incorporate ideals like community living, whole systems design, appropriate technology, seed banking, holistic health, and regenerative enterprise. Through NuNumdo’s platform, these impact centers are becoming more accessible to the world and easily share crucial information and resources.

Sara Johnstone, NuMundo Chief Operating Officer, tells us more about this great enterprise.

WTI: Who were the people who started NuMundo and what was their main motivation?
S.J.: NuMundo’s founders wanted to connect people to impact centers around the globe. As world travellers who came together in intentional communities in Central America, they realized they were all relying on word of mouth to find alternative destinations, most of which were not on any search engines or travel sites. They shared a vision of a decentralized digital network that would empower travellers to discover paradisiacal, “off the grid” locations. And so NuMundo was born.

PLURITY - Project Nuevo Mundo's Earth Odyssey - Vision I from NuMundo on Vimeo.

WTI: I’ve read all of the main participants still have jobs on the side, does it mean the platform was entirely created by volunteers? How many people are now working on it or volunteering and how do you finance the project?
S.J.: NuMundo has been co-created by dozens of committed, passionate, values-aligned contributors. Some of those who have contributed for a year or more have earned equity in the project.
We currently have three people working full-time, and another ten part-time.


NuMundo team gathering. Time offline (“AFK - away from keyboard”) is just as important as time online.

To finance our vision, we have been mostly bootstrapped, crowdfunded with Indiegogo, received a small angel investment, a grant from the Chilean government’s Startup Chile accelerator program and driven revenue through platform bookings and event production.

In addition, over fifty NuMundo “ambassadors” play central roles in expanding and nurturing our global community.


NuMundo ambassadors play a critical role in the NuMundo network.

WTI: You have more than 390 centers registered, is this number growing and what process do the centers have to go through to get registered?
S.J.: NuMundo is growing organically at about two to four centers a week with little active effort to expand our database. At present, we have passed the 400 mark! Aspiring impact centers must fill out a profile and submit to publish on our platform, at which point one of our team members reviews the profile and makes sure it’s a fit. If so, they join our network.


NuMundo team practicing yoga at our Costa Rica NuBase, Finca Morpho.

WTI: Is the activity on your platform increasing? If so, why do you think a growing number of people seems to be seeking this kind of experience?
S.J.: Yes. We believe more and more people are seeking passion, purpose, and fulfillment in life and work. In our disconnected modern world, survivors of unsustainable urban lifestyles are increasingly striving to live in alignment with natural cycles—eating healthy, organic food, embracing conscious practices for mental and physical well-being, developing at the personal and professional level, reconnecting with nature, spending meaningful time on self-discovery in supportive co-living environments, and cultivating community.


NuMundo team members practicing acro-yoga.

WTI: If I were interested in spending time in one of NuMundo’s impact centers how should I proceed?
S.J.: If you’re interested in spending time at an impact center, you can check our network here and see our experiences here. Some of our centers offer work trade options or paid stays, which can be booked directly through the site. We also have many centers that you must contact directly to arrange your visit.


Numundo center Rancho Mastatal’s bamboo house Tiburon.

WTI: The NuMundo platform has already been translated from English to Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese, may I ask why these languages in particular? And do you intend to have it translated into other languages and can you tell us how WebTranslateIt has helped you along the way?
S.J.: Our platform was created in Central America. This is where our founders were living and where they first connected with each other. This is where our network is the strongest, and so translating into Spanish was a priority. Our CTO is from Portugal, and we have a partnership with a Japanese intentional community network.
We’re planning to integrate French and German at some point, as we grow our presence in Europe and elsewhere in the world. Using WebTranslateit for translations has been a great experience, and the tool has all the features we’ve needed so far. Especially when translating to Japanese, as we could lead discussions with the local team of translators directly in each segment, making it easy to find clarity and successfully complete complex translations. We’ve also had good experiences with onboarding translators, who have had no problems using the interface, giving us good feedback about the process and their user experience using the dashboard.

WTI: What is the next step for NuMundo?
S.J.: It is our dream to sustainably work full-time on this platform! This is why we’re exploring ways to monetize the platform through memberships, booking fees, marketing services and event production. As an organization, we are dedicated to growing the new regenerative culture and revolutionize value creation. We are passionate about building new decentralized economic and social systems.
Most recently, this has meant utilizing blockchain technology in the development of our own cryptocurrency token, NuCoin. In our pursuit of financial sustainability and ecological lifestyle, we’re always seeking that perfect synergy between revenue generation and integrity. No matter what challenges we face, we are dedicated first and foremost to our mission.


If you want to help out NuMundo in their inspiring adventure don’t hesitate to Get Involved.


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