Pucón · Araucanía · Southern Chile

Centro de Resiliencia Austral

A non-profit in formation, rooted in the south.

The Centro de Resiliencia Austral (Southern Resilience Centre) is a non-profit organisation in formation, based in Pucón. We work to strengthen the resilience of southern Chile’s communities —in Araucanía, Los Ríos and Los Lagos— in the face of a changing world: more fragile supply chains, pressure on the natural systems everything depends on, and the need to build lasting local capacity.

Our guiding stars

What orients us.

People first; everything else after.

Because communities thrive when they tend what they depend on: soil, water, forest and one another.

Built with people, not over them.

The knowledge is already in the territory. Our work is to help it grow, not to bring it from outside.

What stays, stays here.

Let investment return to the community instead of leaving, and let those who live here keep control.

We count everything that holds a life up.

Not money alone: soil, time, trust, know-how. A healthy community is measured in all its wealth.

How we work

Two modes of work that reinforce each other.

Labs, where we work with research and innovation on concrete problems and opportunities; and projects, high-impact initiatives we are fully committed to and actively engaged in, building resilience in the region.

Our labs

Concrete problems we’re working on.

These are concrete problems —and opportunities— we’re working on for the south’s resilience.

Energy · Health

Efficient wood stoves

The south relies on firewood for heat, but it produces a lot of smoke that harms our health. This lab works on new ways of cleaner, more efficient combustion — less smoke, less wood, and more usable heat for the region’s households.

Inputs · Sovereignty

Biofuel & biofertiliser

How can we economically increase local production from regional waste streams, strengthening the south’s agricultural fuel and fertiliser sovereignty and reducing dependence on distant supply chains?

Finance · Community

Innovative finance

Create legal and financial models empowering people in the region to invest in resilience initiatives that benefit them and their communities directly. Leveraging international investment with local communities in control.

Who we are

A small team in its founding phase.

With roots in the south and experience building organisations inside and outside Chile.

David de Weerdt

Director

Serial founder; has worked with the President of the Maa Council of Elders in Kenya on community resilience since 2019.

more

Co-founder and CEO of Sceneverse. President of Everus Communications (rural internet in Ontario, acquired by Xplornet in 2010). Strategic Advisor to ReThinking Capital. Global Network Lead at Open Source Medical Supplies during the pandemic.

Jaime Graf

Director

Commercial Engineer, based in Pucón for 12 years.

more

Over 20 years leading marketing, commercial expansion, strategic positioning and brand development in retail, outdoor and sustainable real estate across Chile and Latin America.

Advisors

Daniel Matías Garrido BarthouMechanical Civil Engineer (USACH). Thermofluids, clean-energy systems and energy analysis; former ESUS solar team.
Pablo Iván Moreda ArzoSpecialist technician in industrial electronics and electrician. Focus on electrical and mechanical repair, and custom fabrication.
Arnaud HerbietCommercial Analyst; commercial modelling and business cases, alongside the technical advisors.

Our first project

Red Resiliente

The Centre’s first initiative: a network that recognises, connects and grows those already working for the south’s resilience.

Explore Red Resiliente →