Robert Gilman

Robert Gilman's background is most easily understood in three main phases: 1945 - 1975; 1975 - 1995; 1995 to the present.

Astrophysicist
The first phase of Robert's life was devoted to the sciences. He received his bachelor's in astronomy from the University of California at Berkeley in 1967 and his Ph.D. in astrophysics from Princeton University in 1969. He taught and did research at the University of Minnesota, the Harvard Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and served as a Research Associate at NASA's Institute for Space Studies. (For more information on this phase of Robert's life, click here.)

Sustainability pioneer
The second phase of Robert's life began in the mid 1970s when he decided that "the stars could wait, but the planet couldn't." He turned his attention to the study of global sustainability, futures research, and strategies for positive cultural change. With his late wife Diane, he designed and hand-built their own solar home in 1975. In 1979 they founded the Context Institute, one of the earliest NGOs to focus directly on sustainability, dealing with the many dimensions of community development (human, built, economic, etc.) in the context of major global trends (population, resource use, technological change, etc.).

In 1983 Context Institute began publishing IN CONTEXT, A Quarterly of Humane Sustainable Culture, with Robert as Editor. IN CONTEXT became internationally acclaimed and in 1991 and 1994 won the Utne Readers Alternative Press Award for "Best Coverage of Emerging Issues." During this phase Robert developed a wide background in all aspects of sustainable development including cultural history, innovation theory, sustainable economics, and greening of the built environment.

He and his family were also actively involved in Citizen Diplomacy with the former USSR. They were instrumental in the founding of the Global Ecovillage Network, and lived for three years in Winslow CoHousing, one of the first cohousing projects in the US based on this Danish model for community living.

During this time Robert and Diane also raised their two children, Ian (b. 1971) and Celeste (b. 1981). Robert was a key resource for their home-based education.

And now ...
The third and current phase of Robert's life began in 1997 when Diane developed a brain tumor. The intense personal journey of serving as Diane's primary care-giver during her last 6 months deepened his appreciation of and connection to the underlying mystery of life.

In addition to leading Context Institute, he has worked as a consultant, facilitator and presenter with a variety of organizations, professional groups, and community groups to help them make changes toward greater sustainability. This experience includes:

involvement with the American Institute of Architects on environmental and sustainability issues
serving as faculty in Antioch University's Environment and Community Master's program
facilitating the Findhorn Community in Scotland to develop a community constitution and establish its own self-governance
keynote presentations at the Village Building Convergence (Portland), the National Co-Housing conference (Seattle), and the Global Ecovillage Network GEN-10 conference (Findhorn).

From January 2004 to August 2011 Robert served as a member of the City Council in the small town of Langley, WA (population 1100). In 2006, he was elected by his fellow councilmembers as Mayor Pro-Tem, a position he held through 2011. In 2005, he was a major organizer behind Langley's successful levy lid lift campaign, resulting in a 71% yes-vote to raise property taxes for unrestricted general-fund use.

In 2006-07, he was the initiator and chair of Langley's innovative Comp Plan Group, which successfully completed a Comprehensive Plan update using a broad community-based approach, maintaining the involvement of close to 100 citizen volunteers over the 2-year process and costing the city less than $15,000.

From January 2006 through June 2010, Robert held the western Washington at-large position for cities under 5,000 population on the Board of the Association of Washington Cities. From 2008 to 2011 he has served on the Board of Directors of Island Transit, the local transit organization for Island County, WA.

Robert's on-going work draws on all three phases of his life as he helps groups and individuals transform their own lives while they help move the planet toward a humane and sustainable future. He does this through consulting (click here for more info on Robert's consulting work), facilitation (click here for more), and speaking (click here for more). If you are interested in getting Robert's participation in your project or event, contact webmaster.