Community-based Risk Screening Tool – Adaptation and Livelihoods

The provided document is a fact sheet describing CRiSTAL (Community-based Risk Screening Tool – Adaptation and Livelihoods), a project planning and management tool designed to integrate risk reduction and climate change adaptation into community-level work.

• CRiSTAL is an analytical framework designed to help users understand the relationship between climate-related hazards, local livelihoods, and project activities. It specifically analyzes how hazards affect project areas, how people cope, which livelihood resources are most critical for coping, and how project activities influence the availability of those resources to allow for adjustments that increase adaptive capacity.
• The tool was developed by a partnership consisting of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), and Intercooperation. It was created to help project managers design activities that promote adaptation and avoid maladaptation by focusing on local conditions, strengths, and needs.
• CRiSTAL operates through a series of logically linked analytical steps divided into two modules. Module 1 focuses on climate and livelihood information (covering climate context, hazards, impacts, coping strategies, and livelihood resource rating), while Module 2 focuses on planning and managing adaptation (assessing project impacts on resources and adjusting activities to reduce vulnerability).
• The tool utilizes Microsoft Excel for data recording and summarization. While it requires some secondary scientific data for the initial climate context step, the majority of the information is gathered via stakeholder consultations.
• Since its launch in 2007, CRiSTAL has been used in more than 20 countries. Initial field testing was conducted on natural resource management projects in Sri Lanka, Nicaragua, Tanzania, Bangladesh, and Mali.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (n.d.). Community-based Risk Screening Tool – Adaptation and Livelihoods. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/brochure_cristal_en.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Community-based Risk Screening Tool – Adaptation and Livelihoods. n.d. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/brochure_cristal_en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Community-based Risk Screening Tool – Adaptation and Livelihoods |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/brochure_cristal_en.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopmentndcommunitybased, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Community-based Risk Screening Tool – Adaptation and Livelihoods}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/brochure_cristal_en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }