As part of a workshop organised by the New York University Center for Global Affairs on the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), QUNO NY Director Andrew Tomlinson was one of two speakers for the opening plenary session, along with Professor Sakiko Fukuda-Parr from the New School for Public Engagement. Andrew provided a detailed overview of the lengthy process to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with the new SDGs framework, and noted the contrasting experience of civil society engagement in each process. A lively interactive session followed the opening remarks, during which a range of insights were shared highlighting the challenges that remained for the numerous stakeholders engaged in the vast inter-governmental negotiating process at the UN throughout 2015.