Consultations, moderated by the FSN Forum with thematic facilitators, aim to capture the widest possible audience and provide a public platform for transparent and open sharing of ideas and information. They are launched to gather input for policy processes but can also be organized to collect feedback to help facilitators validate and support their technical work. Consultations usually take place over three to six weeks and are complemented with background materials that inform the exchange. For each consultation, a proceedings document containing all contributions received is made available on the Forum website. Forum members receive regular updates on the latest comments and feedback from the facilitator(s). The FSN Forum team then prepares an impartial, analytical summary of all contributions received. The results of the consultations generally feed into policy documents, such as CFS Voluntary Guidelines and global and regional policy frameworks related to the SDGs.