Early in the project, the Working Group undertook a survey of senior and young academies in order to inform the project on the roles, current status, and goals of academies of science, medicine, and engineering in implementing and supporting the SDGs.

Over the fall and winter of 2016-2017 the secretariat distributed the survey to members of IAP-Science, IAP-Health, and the International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technical Sciences, as well as to young academies and the Global Young Academy, and followed up by telephone or Skype with several academies. Eighty-eight out of approximately 150 academies responded. The secretariat compiled the results and work is ongoing to develop complementary resources including a searchable database of all SDG-relevant reports that academies have published since 2014 and a brief guide, tailored to academies, on supporting the SDGs. These resources will be available to all academies and other interested parties soon.