ECO's strategy will be a two-way bridge between the ideas, tools, and methods of LIFE's research, and the research and education field outside our institutions. ECO's resources will be used to seed the development of these new communities and to bring into our work their research and insights, which we see as crucial to any study of the contexts of learning. To this end, ECO will..

• Identify target audiences that will benefit from LIFE's resources supported through visits and seed funding with existing partners and the broader community in accessing LIFE's resources and developing research and education collaborations;
• Establish an interactive web site to make our scientific work and the white papers and reports associated with LIFE workshops visible to outsiders;
• Pursue, in close collaboration with affiliated researchers or institutions, additional joint funding for specific activities that can ensure a larger and sustained impact on the field at large; and
• Integrate the preparation of undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students at our institutions, help develop learning science programs and courses with other institutions, and take a proactive approach to soliciting and developing outside collaborations, particularly with minority serving institutions, with the aim of mutually influencing the theoretical and empirical bases on which we all rely.