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Robert Gilman

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Robert C. Gilman (born 1945) is a thinker on sustainability who, along with his late wife Diane Gilman, has researched and written about ecovillages.[1] The Gilmans’ work was important in giving definition to the ecovillage movement and shaping the direction of the Global Ecovillage Network.[2] In 1991, the Gilmans co-authored Eco-Villages and Sustainable Communities, a seminal study of ecovillages for Gaia Trust.[3]

Also in 1991, Gilman, who was publisher of the magazine In Context, wrote an article entitled “The Eco-village Challenge” that set out a definition of an ecovillage as a:

  • human-scale
  • full-featured settlement
  • in which human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world
  • in a way that is supportive of healthy human development and can be successfully continued into the indefinite future. [1] [4]

This definition was to become the standard definition on which the ecovillage movement was founded and is still considered by many to be the most authoritative.[5]

From astrophysics to global sustainability

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Gilman's academic training is in astrophysics. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1967 with a bachelor's in astronomy. He received a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Princeton University in 1969.[6] Gilman has taught and conducted research at the University of Minnesota, the Harvard Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and was a research associate at NASA's Institute for Space Studies.[7]

Another phase of Gilman's life began in the mid 1970s when he decided that "the stars could wait, but the planet couldn't."[8] He turned his attention to the study of global sustainability, futures research and strategies for positive cultural change. He and Diane designed and built their own solar home in 1975.[9] In 1979, they founded the Context Institute, one of the earliest NGOs to focus on sustainability.[10]

In Context magazine

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The institute launched In Context: A Quarterly of Humane Sustainable Culture in 1983, with Gilman as editor.[11] The journal won the Utne Reader Alternative Press Award for “Best Coverage of Emerging Issues” in 1991 and 1994.[12]

Global Action Plan and GEN

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In 1989–92 Gilman co-developed the **Global Action Plan Household EcoTeam Program**, an early behavior-change model that organized neighbors into teams to cut household waste, water, and energy use;[13] the model was later adopted nationwide in the Netherlands and other countries.[14]

Building on their Gaia Trust study, Robert and Diane helped convene the 1995 Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities conference at Findhorn, Scotland, which formally launched the Global Ecovillage Network.[15] Gilman later spent three years living in Winslow Cohousing on Bainbridge Island, Washington, to test ecovillage principles firsthand.[16]

Recent initiatives

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Since 2016 Gilman has led Bright Future Now, an online six-week course and alumni network that trains change-makers in what he calls the transition from an “Empire Era” to a “Planetary Era.”[17] He continues to speak internationally on regenerative design and cultural evolution, including at Pakhuis de Zwijger’s “Regenerative Design” forum in Amsterdam (2023)[18] and in Vicki Robin’s 2020 *CoVida Conversations* interview series.[19]

Diane Gilman

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Diane Gilman (1945–1998) was a painter, potter and writer, co-founded the Context Institute, co-authored the 1991 Gaia Trust report, and served as initial coordinator of GEN after the 1995 Findhorn conference.[20]


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  1. ^ Connie Koenenn, “Robert Gilman: Cast Lot With the Planet,” Los Angeles Times (Mar. 30, 1990).
  2. ^ Sky Blue, “Ecovillages and the FIC,” Foundation for Intentional Community (May 24 2016).
  3. ^ Sky Blue, “Ecovillages and the FIC,” Foundation for Intentional Community (May 24 2016).
  4. ^ EarthTalk, “What Are ‘Eco-Villages’?”, Scientific American (Dec. 22 2008).
  5. ^ EarthTalk, “What Are ‘Eco-Villages’?”, Scientific American (Dec. 22 2008); Sky Blue, “Ecovillages and the FIC,” Foundation for Intentional Community (May 24 2016).
  6. ^ Association for Behavior Analysis International, “41st Annual Convention Program” (San Antonio 2015) (speaker biography of Robert C. Gilman).
  7. ^ Association for Behavior Analysis International, “41st Annual Convention Program” (San Antonio 2015) (speaker biography of Robert C. Gilman).
  8. ^ Koenenn 1990.
  9. ^ Connie Koenenn, “Robert Gilman: Cast Lot With the Planet,” Los Angeles Times (Mar. 30, 1990).
  10. ^ Connie Koenenn, “Robert Gilman: Cast Lot With the Planet,” Los Angeles Times (Mar. 30, 1990).
  11. ^ Koenenn 1990.
  12. ^ Team Higher Ground, “Thought Leaders – Meaning in the Workplace” (Jan. 18 2019).
  13. ^ Global Action Plan International, “EcoTeams Overview” (archived 2023).
  14. ^ Medium, Reinhabiting the Village, Inhabiting the Future by Robert Gilman (Oct. 12, 2018).
  15. ^ Janet Shaw, “Eco-villages and Sustainable Communities Conference 1995,” Celebrating One Incredible Family (accessed 18 May 2025).
  16. ^ Medium, 2018.
  17. ^ Bright Future Now, “About the Course” (retrieved 19 May 2025).
  18. ^ “Regenerative Design,” Pakhuis de Zwijger programme (30 Jan 2023).
  19. ^ Vicki Robin, “CoVida Conversation with Robert Gilman” (Apr. 2020).
  20. ^ Shaw 1995.
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