ADAPTool Guidebook: V2.0 for Existing Policies

The ADAPTool Guidebook describes the Adaptive Design and Policy Assessment Tool (ADAPTool), an Excel-based framework developed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development to evaluate how existing policies and programs align with seven characteristics of adaptive policies to better handle shocks, stresses, and changing conditions such as climate change.

• The ADAPTool is an Excel spreadsheet designed to compare existing policies and programs against seven specific characteristics of adaptive policies: integrated and forward-looking analysis, multistakeholder deliberation, automatic policy adjustment, self-organization and social networking, decentralization of decision making, promoting variation, and formal policy review and continuous learning.
• The tool evaluates policy adaptability in the context of specific stressors or external changes, such as climate change, demographic pressures, or volatile market prices. It provides two types of assessments: the ability of policies to support adaptation measures by target groups, and the general adaptability of the policies themselves to both defined and unforeseeable future changes.
• The ADAPTool is structured into four worksheets. Data is collected via an online form for the first worksheet and most of the second, while the remainder of the second and the entire third worksheet are completed through analyst research or interviews.

APA

Tyler,, S. T. R. T. H. (2014). ADAPTool Guidebook: V2.0 for Existing Policies. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/adaptool-guidebook-v20-existing-policies

Chicago

Tyler,, Stephen Tyler,Dimple Roy,Stephen Tyler,Kari Hansen. ADAPTool Guidebook: V2.0 for Existing Policies. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2014. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/adaptool-guidebook-v20-existing-policies.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tyler, |first1=Stephen Tyler,Dimple Roy,Stephen Tyler,Kari Hansen |title=ADAPTool Guidebook: V2.0 for Existing Policies |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=22 March 2014 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/adaptool-guidebook-v20-existing-policies |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tyler2014adaptool, author = {Tyler,, Stephen Tyler,Dimple Roy,Stephen Tyler,Kari Hansen}, title = {{ADAPTool Guidebook: V2.0 for Existing Policies}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2014}, month = mar, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/adaptool-guidebook-v20-existing-policies}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }