The Access Initiative Assessment Toolkit (Version 2.0) released to the public on April 26, 2006 at the TAI Global Meeting in Bangkok

(Click here for more details on the meeting)

The new version of the Access Initiative's Assessment Toolkit has now been launched. This version can be found at research.accessinitiative.org. Please visit the new toolkit site for more details.

TAI has suspended general distribution of the Version 1.1 CD in anticipation of a shift to Version 2.0, which is a web-based application. Please visit the new toolkit site (research.accessinitiative.org) or contact the TAI Secretariat (access@wri.org) for more details.

Information on Version 2.0:

In April 2006, WRI released Version 2.0 (TAI Ver2.0) of the TAI indicator toolkit. This interactive, web-based research tool builds on the original research methods derived from nine country pilot tests, the Version 1.0 toolkit, and the 25 country assessments that have been conducted by TAI coalitions. In developing TAI Ver2.0, WRI sought to ensure that the research toolkit is useful and accessible to a wide variety of stakeholders, and applicable to a diverse set of national contexts. The new version will introduce access to justice indicators and incorporate refinements to the toolkit to better address capacity building and poverty.

From June 2004 through June 2005, WRI worked closely with other TAI partners to revise and refine the TAI indicators. Significant steps agreed upon by partners included: streamlining the indicators and improving the underlying logic, balancing the focus on law and practice, maintaining a prescriptive nature while adapting flexibility for analysis, ensuring compatibility with previous versions of the toolkit, expanding the scale of indicator values, and identifying a set of “core indicators” that every team must apply when conducting an assessment.

Information on "Assessing Access to Information, Participation, and Justice for the Environment: A Guide (***version 1.1***)"

***NOTE: THE INFORMATION FOUND BELOW IS CONCERNING THE FIRST VERSION OF THE METHODOLOGY, WHICH HAS NOW BEEN REPLACED BY THE NEW VERSION OF THE TAI ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY ("VERSION 2.0"). ***

As Version 2.0 has now been released, the information below is only for information and historical purposes. When conducting a new assessment, please visit "research.accessinitiative.org" for all indicators and related information regarding your assessment. The worksheets and files found below are now outdated and hence should be used only for historical purposes and not to conduct a new TAI assessment.

A "How-to" Guide prepared by The Access Initiative

The Access Initiative developed a set of tools to help civil society groups measure how well governments are performing on access to information, public participation, and justice in decision-making for the environment. These tools were available in the CD-ROM publication, Assessing Access to Information, Participation, and Justice for the Environment: A Guide. The Guide described our unique methodology and includes more than 150 research questions designed to measure law and practice in the following areas:

• Degree of access to selected types of Information about the Environment;
• Degree of Public Participation in decision-making processes; and
• Comprehensiveness and quality of Capacity Building efforts to encourage informed and meaningful public participation.

In addition, the Guide provided detailed and user-friendly instructions for all phases of the assessment, including assembling a coalition, launching a study, selecting cases and research methods, finalizing data, and using findings to stimulate tangible results.

If you are already using the CD and you have questions, problems, or comments, please read the Frequently Asked Questions and Troubleshooting the Guide, or email us at access@wri.org with "How-to Guide Question" in the subject line.

Please read the Known Bugs if you are using the CD and encounter problems. Note that all new assessments will now be done using the new online version of the TAI assessment methodology (also known as "Version 2.0"). Please visit research.accessinitiative.org if you are working on an assessment as of April 2006.

Request information on the How-To Guide

TAI has suspended general distribution of the Version 1.1 CD in recognition of the shift to Version 2.0, which is a web-based application. Please visit this site or contact the TAI Secretariat (access@wri.org) for more details as they become available. You may also visit research.accessinitiative.org for more details on the new version of the TAI Assesment Methodology.

If you would like more information about the Version 1.1 CD, please email us at access@wri.org with "How-to Guide" in the subject line.

For information purposes only, the files below comprise Assessing Access to Information, Participation, and Justice for the Environment: A Guide. You may download them as interactive software versions (the same files as shipped on the CD-ROM) or as PDF files adapted for hard copy printing.

As stated above, please visit research.accessinitiative.org for information on new assessments as of April 2006.

• "How-to" Guide text containing research guidelines and resources
  • Download in Compiled HTML Help File (CHM) format (1.5 MB) - This html file, included on the CD, is structured like a web page with interactive links.
  • Download in PDF format (0.7 MB) - This version contains the same text that appears on the CD, but is designed for easy reading and printing in hard copy form.
  
  
• The Access Initiative Indicator Database - A tool allowing you to enter research information and generate indicators of performance.
  • Download the Microsoft Access database file (4 MB) for computers with Access 2000 or Access XP only. - This version, included on the CD, is interactive and allows you to run reports and store data. If you do not have Access 2000 or Access XP on your computer then you should request a full CD, which has files and instructions for older computers.
  • Download Indicator Worksheets in PDF format (1 MB)- including the worksheet for Information/Monitoring 6b. If you will not have access to a computer, download these blank worksheets to fill out manually.
    
• Download the User Instructions for Version 1.0 (PDF) (1.7 MB)- This technical manual, included on the CD, explains the features and use of the Indicator Database.