Tools judged to have the highest impact in policy- and decision-making were selected by members of the research team, in collaboration with other stakeholders.

Team members completed a written template to review 34 different tools shown in the table opposite.

Following this review process, tools marked with an asterisk (*) were adapted to incorporate the principles of the Ecosystem Approach - these adapted tools can be found on the Tools page or in the NEAT Tree roots.

Tool categories Short tool reviews
Ecosystem Services tools Artificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services (ARIES)
  Ecosystem Assessment*
  Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST)
  Local Economic Development and Environment (LEDE)
Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA)
  Multiscale Integrated Earth Systems model (MIMES)
  National Character Areas
  Natural Capital Asset Check*
  Payments for Ecosystem Services*
  Multi-criteria GIS toolbox (POLYSCAPES)
Engagement tools Community Economic Development
  Delphi Approach
  Focus Groups
  Games
  Participatory Mapping
  Stakeholder Mapping
  Sustainable Estates Workbook
  Training Courses
Futures tools Backcasting
  Foresight
  Visioning
Incentive tools Biodiversity Offsetting
  National Character Areas
  Payments for Ecosystem Services
  Visitor Payback
Regulatory tools Community Infrastructure Levy
  Environmental Impact Assessment*
  Green Belt
  Regulatory Impact Assessment
  Strategic Environmental Assessment*
  Supply Chain Stewardship
  Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS)
  Tax Incremental Financing
Valuation tools Artificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services (ARIES)
  Common Law
  Corporate Ecosystem Valuation*
  Cost-Benefit Analysis*
  Deliberative Monetary Valuation
  Ecosystem Assessment*
  Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST)
  Local Economic Development and Environment (LEDE)
  Multiscale Integrated Earth Systems model (MIMES)
  Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis
  National Character Areas
  Natural Capital Asset Check*