Institutional description (or governace description) is composed of methods that describe the actors and institutions relevant for CCVIA. Due to adaptation being a relatively new field, there are a number of papers in the scientific literature that remain strictly descriptive of the actors and institutions relevant for adaptation in a given geographical location or sector. For example, Tol and Klein (2008) review the institutional context for adaptation in coastal zone management in Europe. They identify three levels of decision-making: national governments, local governments and private individuals. They find that national level decisions are partly determined by EU policies, e.g. in Coastal Bathing Water Directive, the Water Framework Directive and the Habitat Directive. This type of approach requires no strong theoretical assumptions on the part of the analyst, and contributes to adaptation by providing a more comprehensive description of the policy context in which adaptation takes place.