AJAPT (Agents Joint Assessment and Planning Tool) is an analytical and participatory platform developed to support the assessment of complex problems, stakeholder interactions, scenario building, simulation and collaborative decision-making. As a methodological and technological asset of the InterAgency Institute, AJAPT connects research with practice and is used across the Institute’s different research and action areas.
Originally developed by Sabrina Medeiros, AJAPT has evolved through research, teaching, simulations and applied projects involving academic institutions, public authorities, practitioners and civil society organizations. Its incorporation into the InterAgency Institute reflects the Institute’s commitment to developing methodologies that translate research into practical tools for analysis, dialogue, capacity building and policy action.
AJAPT is not associated with a single thematic field. It is used across InterAgency Institute projects whenever structured analysis of actors, interests, variables, relationships, risks, alternatives or possible futures can contribute to understanding a complex problem.
The platform can therefore support projects in areas such as international security, maritime governance, emerging technologies and artificial intelligence, human rights, sustainability, education, transnational crime, international cooperation, peace and conflict, institutional governance and civil society advocacy.
Its application is adapted to the objectives and methodological requirements of each project. Depending on the research design, AJAPT can be used for stakeholder and actor mapping, scenario assessment, structured expert analysis, negotiation exercises, simulations, collaborative planning, policy development, advocacy strategies and educational activities.
A central purpose of AJAPT is to create a structured space in which different forms of knowledge can inform analysis and action. Researchers can use the platform to organize analytical variables and test scenarios; practitioners can examine alternatives and consequences; students and professionals can participate in simulation-based learning; and civil society organizations can use structured actor and scenario analysis to support advocacy and strategic planning.
This flexibility has enabled AJAPT to move between academic research and applied environments. Within InterAgency Institute initiatives, it can be incorporated into research projects from their initial analytical design through workshops, simulations and stakeholder engagement to the development of policy recommendations and other forms of research-to-policy impact.
Its use with NGOs and civil society organizations, including advocacy initiatives in Italy, demonstrates this broader potential. These applications expand the platform beyond its origins in simulation and strategic analysis and illustrate how the same methodological architecture can support participatory processes, coalition building and advocacy.
AJAPT supports different combinations of methods according to the needs of each project, including:
actor and stakeholder mapping;
identification and assessment of analytical variables;
scenario building and scenario assessment;
simulation and wargaming;
negotiation and multi-actor exercises;
expert elicitation and structured assessment;
collaborative planning and decision support;
policy development and policy testing;
advocacy and stakeholder engagement;
capacity building, professional training and education.
Rather than prescribing a single analytical model, AJAPT provides an adaptable environment in which methodologies can be designed around the problem being investigated.
AJAPT functions as a shared methodological resource across the InterAgency Institute. Research teams can integrate it into projects whenever simulation, structured assessment, participatory methodologies or decision-support processes add value to the research.
This cross-cutting role also allows knowledge generated in different fields to contribute to methodological innovation across the Institute. Applications developed for security or maritime governance, for example, may inform approaches to sustainability, advocacy or international cooperation, while experiences with civil society and educational projects can generate new participatory methods applicable to other policy environments.
Through AJAPT, the InterAgency Institute combines research, methodological experimentation and applied engagement, strengthening its capacity to work with complex problems involving multiple actors, competing interests and uncertain environments.
AJAPT maintains its own digital platform, where users can access the tool and its operational environment.
