The Climate Change Adaptation Scoring Tool allows practitioners and researchers to compare three different options (by calculating three adaptation plan quality indices) to evaluate the contents of adaptation plans.
Climate Change Adaptation Scoring Tool
Free keywords
Quality assessment, planning, evaluation, climate adaptation, local/ municipal, self-assessment
Readiness for use
Tool broadly used
Applications
The tool was tested on a representative sample of 327 large and medium-sized cities across the EU since 2021- 2023. Subsequently, it has been used across Europe, mainly in The Netherlands, Greece and Cyprus since mid-2022.
The tool has undergone a thorough methodological review, as well as user interface changes to reach the version that it is now.
Strengths and weaknesses, comparative added value to other similar tools
Strengths:
(+) The tool has a user-friendly interface while following logical steps in the assessment of any particular plan with a mix of options to select from, and open spaces to fill in own considerations.
(+) It allows the user to generate a visual overview (summary) of the key aspects of the plan and helps identify those that could be improved.
(+) The tool assesses adaptation plans that cover more than 2 sectors.
Weaknesses:
(-) Less useful for an individual adaptation action on the local scale.
Input(s)
Data, information, and the interpretation thereof from the plan or strategy itself, which is being assessed. The user must know the strategy/ plan well, to be able to answer questions on the scope and content of the plan/strategy.
The data and assessment will be stored online and can be accessed and updated at a later stage, with user login. With this, each user can upload and assess several plans in parallel. They are stored in a database, and can be edited and saved anytime. This allows users to revisit an assessment and make small changes to the tools’ assessment, if something changed after a few months.
Output(s)
The tool scores the three different options. These scores reflect the quality of the adaptation plan assessed with 6 quality principles: fact base, goals, policies, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and participation. The results section will be more or less complete depending on which parts of the assessment the user filled in.
Replicability: Cost/effort for (new) usage
It takes around 10 minutes to fill in the tool.
Materials or other support available
User guide
Once logged in to the tool platform, users can access a video tutorial and a technical document on the tool architecture.
Website and maintenance
Climate Change Adaptation Scoring Tool – EURO LCP Initiative (lcp-initiative.eu).
The tool will be available under the URL provided until March 2026.
Contact
Diana Reckien
d [dot] reckien
utwente [dot] nl (d[dot]reckien[at]utwente[dot]nl)
Paris Fokaides
p [dot] fokaidesfrederick [dot] ac [dot] cy (p[dot]fokaides[at]frederick[dot]ac[dot]cy)
Associated project(s)
The tool was developed within the framework of the activities of the EURO-LCP Initiative, which brings together environmental and social scientists living and working in all EU-28 countries and dealing or working on climate change issues.
No specific funds were used for the development of the Adaptation Scoring Tool (ADAQA).