CRiSTAL VS

CRiSTAL V5 helps users understand the links between a development project and its contribution to climate adaptation. It helps project planners and managers ensure that their project supports or, at a minimum, does not constrain climate adaptation so that communities are able to achieve their development goals.

This tool is included in the Development Impacts Assessment (DIA) Toolkit from the LEDS Global Partnership.

Approach

CRiSTAL V5 helps users to:

1. understand the livelihoods and climate context of a community or area of interest;
2. screen existing project activities to assess their impacts on livelihood resources that are important to climate adaptation, and revise these activities accordingly;
3. plan new project activities that support climate adaptation; and
4. support M&E. The list of revised or new project activities contributes directly to step B in both the adaptation planning process and the project cycle. However, there are other links—that is to say, information gathered to establish the livelihoods and climate context in CRiSTAL can contribute to a risk assessment, as well as establish a monitoring and evaluation system.

When to Use This Tool

This tool is most useful for development impacts assessments focused on:

Social

Economic

Environmental

Learn more about the topics for assessing the impacts of low-emission development strategies (LEDS).

Key Outputs

Applying CRiSTAL leads to three main outputs:

1. List of livelihood resources that are most affected by climate hazards and most important for responding to climate impacts.
2. Proposed adjustments to existing projects and new activities to support climate adaptation.
3. List of desired adaptation outcomes and important influencing factors to be monitored.

How to Use This Tool

Training Available
No training required, introduction to tool included in graphical user interface.

Level of Expertise
Simple

Key Inputs

Livelihoods Context, Climate risk, Gender and Diversity

Case Studies

Examples of how CRiSTAL VS has helped people assessing the impacts of low-emission development strategies in countries and regions:

A list of case studies featured here: http://www.iisd.org/cristaltool/experiences.aspx

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"Excel-based tool" is not in the list (Case Studies, Online Tools, Reports, Spreadsheet, Software, Guidebook/Manual) of allowed values for the "DIA/Type" property.