The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is an independent think tank championing sustainable solutions to 21st–century problems. Our mission is to promote human development and environmental sustainability. We do this through research, analysis and knowledge products that support sound policy-making.

Our big-picture view allows us to address the root causes of some of the greatest challenges facing our planet today: ecological destruction, social exclusion, unfair laws and economic rules, a changing climate.

IISD’s staff of over 120 people, plus over 50 associates and 100 consultants, come from across the globe and from many disciplines. Our work affects lives in nearly 100 countries.

Part scientist, part strategist—IISD delivers the knowledge to act. 

CRiSTAL is a project-planning and management tool that helps users to integrate risk reduction and climate change adaptation into their community-level work.

CRiSTAL provides an analytical framework to help users understand: how current and potential future climate hazards affect or may affect a project area and local livelihoods; how people respond to the current and potential future impacts of these climate hazards; which livelihood resources are most affected by current climate hazards and which ones are most important for the response strategies; how project activities affect access to, or availability of, these critical livelihood resources; and what project adjustments (revision of existing activities and/or design of new activities) can be made to support climate adaptation and reduce climate risk. The tool is oriented toward project planners and managers working at the local and community levels, but a wide range of other actors may also benefit from using the tool (including policy-makers and decision-makers). This brochure explains the objectives, background and application of CRiSTAL.

CRiSTAL was developed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Stockholm Environment Institute and HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation. Further resources can be found on the CRiSTAL website.

IISD’s Economic Law and Policy Program focuses on the areas of economic policy-making that promise some of the greatest gains for equitable growth and environmental sustainability: investment, finance, trade, government procurement, and various forms of industrial policy.

We identify the key economic and legal policies in need of reform, and pinpoint those policies most ripe for change.

Take a look inside the world's freshwater laboratory!

IISD-ELA is an exceptional natural laboratory comprised of 58 small lakes and their watersheds set aside for scientific research.

Located in a sparsely populated region of northwestern Ontario, Canada, it is one of the only places in the world where it is possible to conduct experiments on whole ecosystems.

For the last 50 years, our unique research approach has influenced billion-dollar decisions of governments and industries. It has generated more cost-effective environmental policies, regulations and management—all in the name of keeping our water clean.

On the event of the 2014 Annual General Meeting of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF), the IISD proposed that new approaches are needed to better account for the contributions of the mining industry to water, energy and food security for affected communities. 

In this brochure, we outline a basic approach for developing analytical systems to monitor these issues.  Ultimately, locally appropriate analytics and indicators will help ensure that these issues are better accounted for within policy-making processes.

In developed and developing countries alike, there is increasing demand for water, energy and food (which combine to form what is called the WEF nexus).

The growing demand for these three essentials, combined with the realization that many traditional approaches to satisfying this demand are unsustainable (i.e., they result in groundwater depletion, nutrient loading to waterways, climate change, etc.), is requiring society to find smarter and more integrated ways to provide these fundamentals.

In Canada, IISD is designing and implementing WEF-inspired watershed-based management that realizes the multiple benefits of well-managed landscapes. Building on its expertise and knowledge of watershed-based ecosystem services, IISD combines principles of ecological design, stakeholder consultation, watershed modelling and policy research to develop practical solutions for WEF in the context of development interventions, including those related to agriculture and mining. In multiple countries, IISD is working with partners to identify, quantify, monitor and manage key natural, social, economic and social components of WEF security.

Two examples given in this brochure of IISD’s engagement with WEF security include its work developing cattail-based value chains in the Lake Winnipeg watershed (Canada) and working with stakeholders in Suriname to help them understand and improve WEF in the context of mining.   

A common barrier to effective planning In watersheds around the world is the complexity of the multi-faceted issues, incomplete and inaccessible data, jurisdictional fragmentation, transboundary issues and poor communication between stakeholders.

In such a disjointed environment, the tracking and communication of data can help highlight where significant progress is being achieved, as well as where trends may be worsening.

As a solution, IISD promotes watershed indicator systems that highlight key data and serve as a common reference point for all stakeholders (e.g., agricultural groups, governments, conservation/watershed groups, non-governmental organizations). Indicators tracked can include environmental, social, and economic measures, resulting in a rich picture of status, potential linkages and progress towards sustainability.

This brochure outlines IISD’s work with indicators, and describes the expertise possessed by the organization’s staff to collaborate with partners who wish to develop indicator sets and systems to visualize data or integrate indicators into decision making. Two examples provided of successful indicator initiatives include the sustainability indicator system for Lake Balaton (Hungary) and the “Peg” community indicator system in Winnipeg, Canada.