Community-Based Risk Screening Tool – Adaptation and Livelihoods (CRiSTAL)

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Download CRiSTAL Manual

CRiSTAL is a screening tool designed to help project designers and managers integrate risk reduction and climate change adaptation into community-level projects. CRiSTAL was developed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI-US) and Intercooperation.

CRiSTAL is divided into two modules and four framing questions. Module 1 helps project planners and managers understand the links between livelihoods and climate in their project areas and it includes two framing questions:

What is the climate context?
What is the livelihood context?

Community consultations (required to fulfil Module 1) can be undertaken with different community sub-groups, thereby allowing the identification of differentiated vulnerability within a community.

Module 2 uses the information from this first module to help project designers integrate adaptation considerations into project design. More specifically, Module 2 helps project designers assess a project’s impact on community-level vulnerability and make project adjustments to 1) enhance project impacts on community resilience to climate variability and change and 2) ensure that the project is sustainable with future climate change.

CRiSTAL is available in multiple formats (e.g., Excel, hardcopy) and languages (English, French, Spanish and Portuguese) and can be tailored to meet the needs of different sectors and communities. It can be used independently or as part of a suite of tools (e.g. vulnerability assessments, participatory action research). For example, it can be used in conjunction with the CVCA methodology. Community-level information collected with the CVCA methodology can be inputted into CRiSTAL Module 1.

Use it to:

Organise and synthesise information on climate-livelihoods linkages
Make project planning and management decisions that support adaptation.
I dentify synergies and barriers to identified adaptation options.

Limitations:

CRiSTAL Version 4.0 does not include any analysis of the underlying causes of vulnerability or of changing disaster risks (but it is expected that the next version of the tool will put greater emphasis on these aspects).

Further information about CRiSTAL and its various applications around the world: www.cristaltool.org