Sustainable Communities Expert, Robert Etgen Joins the Council Fire Team
Robert Etgen joins Council Fire to drive large-scale change for clients and communities as an impact-focused consultant on the Sustainable Communities Team.
Council Fire is thrilled to welcome Rob aboard – his experience will strengthen the team’s extensive knowledge-base. Rob offers top-level expertise in the community development and resiliency sector, with specific focuses on ecology, environmental conservation, law, transportation, urban revitalization, and land use.
As the Executive Director of the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, Rob earned a national reputation for the projects he led to integrate the community into advanced economic development and conservation work. Commenting on the transition to sustainability consulting, Rob said, “During my career, I worked with a regional organization for more than 30 years. I am excited about using what I learned with regional land use, conservation, and urban redevelopment at a larger scale. Council Fire’s impact stretches across the globe, taking on national and continental projects which is very exciting for me. This team has the ability to think about issues at a scale where it can make a huge difference.”
Drawn to Council Fire’s “great mix of talent” and “entrepreneurial spirit,” Rob remarked on the importance of this work. “The world’s changing so fast, and in the environmental sector, we’re losing the battle. We need innovative, entrepreneurial solutions at scale. What Council Fire represents with its global vision is the ability to think about the toughest issues,” he said.
Rob views the transportation industry as one of the most pressing contributors to climate change, “Where we drive, how we drive, what we drive – oftentimes these decisions about land use, mass transit, and how people get to work are being made at a local level. There are huge returns on thinking more regionally about transportation. Council Fire is uniquely positioned to make an impact,” he said. Rob says that advocacy in the private sector to invest in carbon trading and carbon markets is critical, as well as making carbon sequestration an accessible part of the economy.
Council Fire looks forward to Rob’s contributions to the team to confront some of the greatest social, economic and environmental issues at play today around the globe.