It's like, so meta

So I've been reading up a bit more on the Climate Interactive project (brought to you by the Sustainability Institute and MIT's Center for Collaborative Intelligence).  One part of their approach to climate issues involves building and distributing simulations for education, persuasion, and decision-making.

The rest of what they're doing is a little more "meta": they're building simplified climate models and a framework around those models to make it easier for others to create simulations.  A platform for constructing climate simulations.  Okay, cool -- rather than create the thing, create the machine so that anyone can create the thing. Oh, and open the process too. 

I think this idea may hit at a level which has a bit more traction for my background (as a computer science student) than what I've been doing.  For the past while, I've been looking into what sort of educational tool to build.  I'm no teacher, so I've been reading papers and speaking to educators to find out where I can help.  I'm working this angle, and it's going, slowly, but the idea of creating the framework for making simple climate simulations -- well, that's something that on first blush seems to more closely suit my capabilities.  Hrmm..