This paper details a project research methodology for assessing existing resilience-building strategies in Sudan to current climate change vulnerabilities. This is built on a hypothesis that sustainable livelihoods (SL) can fill the practical and conceptual gap between local vulnerability to climate change and national and intergovernmental policy processes.The methodology described is based around a sustainable livelihoods conceptual model as a community approach to climate-change resilience, as well as a framework for analysis. Case studies, which include a policy analysis component, serve as the primary research tool and are intended to show that certain SL measures operate as climate change adaptation options and that such measures can and should be integrated into the planning of national adaptation strategies.The following key elements comprise the project’s methodological approach:climate variability and extremes as a proxy for climate change: the degree to which a community or system is adapted to today’s climate extremes and variability can serve as an indicator of how vulnerable or resilient that system is likely to be to future climate change conditionssustainable livelihoods approach, framework and assessment tools: the project uses its own variant of the SL approach, adapted to suit the specific contextsuccessful resilience-building experiences: successful examples of community resilience to climate shocks exist- but what is the nature of that success, and the enabling factors behind that success?targeted participation: community and stakeholder participation is a mainstay of this methodology, the methodology using a range of appropriate participatory toolsresilience indicators: tools developed for monitoring and assessing the impact of SL on communities are used as a guide to develop fairly simple approach to developing and using resilience indicatorsmicro-macro linkages: the case studies will involve a distinct step of policy process analysis, with a focus on understanding the ways in which existing policy supports or inhibits sustainable livelihoods activitynested assessment: analysis will focus first on the household, next on the community, and next- through the policy analysis process- on the micro-region, the sub-national context, and finally, the national or regional contextvalidation: a validation or quality-check will be conducted at three levels: an informal triangulation will be at the community level, data review by a local informant, and data examination by task force members.