Governance design addresses the question of how to design effective institutions, in light of the theoretical assumption that the link between institutions and outcomes can be predicted with some confidence. One particular kind of governance design approach that has been applied extensively in the CCVIA literature is policy analysis. Policy analysis addresses the question of "determining which of various alternative policies will achieve a given set of goals in light of the relations between the policies and the goals" (Nagel 1999). In particular, this can be applied ex ante to improve the design of policies, programmes or projects. Because adaptation occurs in all sectors and at all levels of social organisation, the goal of climate change adaptation policy may be generally stated as to incorporate the consideration of climate risks into existing policies and increasing the capacity of individuals and societies to respond to these risks. In this sense, it is not a stand-alone policy domain, but rather addresses the need to integrate, or mainstream, the consideration of these risks into existing sectoral policies. This has meant policy analysis in CCIAV has focused on mainstreaming adaptation into existing policies, as opposed to analysing policies that aim at adaptation goals on their own. The recommendations of high-level adaptation policy documents, such as the EU White Paper on Adaptation, are illustrative, as they focus on the need to increase the consideration of climate risks across all sectors.