Partial funding is requested for two workshops on ecological restoration as social reconstruction. Collaborative generation of environmental knowledge and inquiry. The intellectual merit of these topics is related to a) the social shaping of science and the influence of science on social processes being firmly in the center and b) the topics opening up issues about complexities of social-environmental interactions that concern scientists, STS scholars, and science educators. The choice of topics and the innovative, interactive character of the workshops are designed to attract participants who will develop knowledge, skills, and interest in promoting the social contextualization of science through interdisciplinary education and other activities. Participants will be sought from Science and Technology Studies (STS), the sciences, and science education and will include graduate students and more experienced scholars. The broader impact is primarily in education: participants will be required to submit new syllabi and curriculum units (primarily for college level courses) or outreach activities related to their workshop topic within six months of its completion. These will be made available in an expanding compilation of Online Resources for Science-in-Society Education and Outreach. Formative and summative evaluations of the workshops will provide a basis for developing the workshop experience from the first year to the next and for establishing a model of workshops that can be repeated, evolve in response to evaluations, and be adapted by participants.
