Getting Started

[Manual del usuario Español] [Manual do Usuário Português]

In practice, FHI takes the form of an adaptable composite indicator system, under which monitored, surveyed and modelled data must be collated through a system of major and sub-indicators. As the composite indicator system is applied to project the effect of stressors and scenarios in a basin, opportunities emerge to evaluate potential planning efforts on freshwater health, rank alternative management actions with respect to freshwater health, and explore the projected effects of environmental conditions or changes in a basin. Integral to the process is stakeholder engagement, which is carried out through dedicated workshops, quantitative weighting exercises, joint exploration and interpretation of data and results; among others.

The FHI User Manual attempts to walk through this process alongside a toolbox to facilitate getting started. The reports of completed assessments -- also available on the FHI website -- will be valuable resource to understand how FHI has been applied.

Step 1: Define basin for FHI case study

The first essential step is to define what will be the geographical scope of the study, as well as some understanding of who will be the main collaborators and stakeholders of the assessment. Chapter 4 of this manual elaborates on these requirements.

Step 2: Install desktop toolbox

FHI desktop toolbox is a software developed by Conservation International and freely available to help perform FHI assessments by supporting calculation of the indicators and managing input data. FHI desktop toolbox is supported for Windows 10. Download the toolbox installer from the FHI website.

Contact FHI Support if you would like a gain access to the source code. We also maintain excel spreadsheets-based indicator calculators on our website that may be helpful in some situations.

Step 3: Calculate indicators with toolbox

The description of the indicators and data requirements are in chapter 5 to 6 of this manual. The desktop toolbox facilitates the calculation process as well as archiving the associated data. A quick start guide for the toolbox will be available soon.

Step 4: Carry-out stakeholder surveys

Chapter 7 and 8 define the scope of information obtained from stakeholder survey that must be integrated into the FHI process. Currently, the survey mechanisms are not integrated into the toolbox and require third-party tools (like Typeform) to collect the survey data. The desktop toolbox can read in results from these surveys to integrate with remaining information.

Step 5: Put everything together and share results

The desktop toolbox stores all information about the assessment into an FHI database (.fhix file) that is sharable. FHI database for our existing case-studies will be made available on our website soon. If you will like us to host the FHI database generated for your basin, please contact FHI Support.