Climate models were originally developed to advance scientific understanding of the dynamics of the climate system. Now modeling is being used to enhance decision-maker understanding and to inform policy for climate mitigation and adaptation. These new goals and audiences have led to innovative new methods for modeling climate, the earth system, and human actions. While such models strive for scientific accuracy, their added goal is to be useful for social learning and decision making. This symposium brings together leaders of innovative efforts to deploy state of the science models to enhance our ability to effectively deal with climate change. The models described inform policy decisions directly, serve as platforms for policy makers to consider desired outcomes, and facilitate public participation and deliberation. The panelists will overview the logic and goals of the models they are using and discuss how the models are shaped by the contexts in which they are deployed. They will reflect on the challenges to the modeling craft that arise in these contexts as well as the processes by which the public and political elites engage with models. The session will extract lessons from these efforts about how we can best use models to facilitate social learning for sustainability.