The United Nations General Assembly discussed and approved the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) during the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit last September and next January the new SDGs will become applicable.

To get some suggestions for how to get started with implementing the 2030 Agenda, including how to measure current performance and how to prepare a roadmap for the design of SDG strategies the SDSN just launched the SDG.Guide "Getting Started with the SDGs".

This guide is a first and preliminary guide on how to "get started" with implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It aims to help stakeholders, including governments at all levels (national, regional, and local), to understand the SDG Agenda, to start an inclusive dialogue on SDG implementation, and to prepare SDG-based national development strategies (or align existing plans and strategies with the goals).

The guided is dived in 3 chapters. The first introduces the concept of sustainable development, explains the evolution from Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals (the guide draws upon lessons learned from the Millennium Development Goals), and discusses the importance of goal-based planning.

The second offers practical guidance on how to get started with implementing the 2030 Agenda, including how to measure current performance, convene a multi-stakeholder dialogue, and prepare a roadmap for the design of SDG strategies.
Finally, the third provides a set of tools to support the design of sector- and goal-based strategies to achieve the SDGs.

The guide is currently available in English on the website. Translations into Spanish, French, Portuguese, Mandarin, and possibly other languages are expected in early 2016.

The guide is available for consultation and free download at this link