CIARIS history began with the creation of resources for combating social exclusion. These resources give a conceptual, methodological and practical framework to improve the strategies of intervention for fighting social exclusion. The Guide for Action outlines a practical framework for taking a “Strategic Approach” in combating social exclusion. This "Strategic Approach" is described through four “Strategic Principles”: integration, partnership, participation and territoriality and three “Cycle Functions” (or key moments in an intervention’s life cycle): diagnosis, planning, and monitoring and evaluation.

Since then CIARIS has been collecting and creating additional resources about these issues. The original documents and additional resources can be found in the Library under Approaches.