Organization:Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities
The Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities (CETAF) is a taxonomic research network formed by scientific institutions in Europe. It was formed in December 1996[1] by ten of the largest European natural history museums and botanical gardens to be a voice for taxonomy and systematic biology in Europe, to promote scientific research and access to European natural history collections, and to exploit European funding opportunities. Since then, CETAF has served as a meeting point for major European natural history museums and botanical gardens, and has initiated and played an important role in a number of projects (see Initiatives and related projects section below).
Currently, CETAF has 37 members, which constitute a total of 63 institutions spanning 22 European countries (see Members section below). One of these members, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, also hosts CETAF's General Secretariat.[1]
Together, CETAF institutions hold a large fraction (c. 500 million objects) of the world’s most important natural history collections, and the scientific staff have unique expertise in taxonomy and systematics. Biodiversity loss, global warming and other environmental issues need natural history collections and related expertise as sources of knowledge and for reference. The increasing political and public awareness of environmental questions and their importance for society provide both challenges and opportunities for taxonomic facilities.
CETAF strives to represent the interests of its member institutions, to enhance the visibility of its members, and to be a powerful voice for natural history collections and collections-based research in Europe.
General Meetings
General Meetings with representatives of each member institution are held twice a year. The meetings are hosted by any of the member institutions and held at any of the European natural history museums or botanic gardens. Current business between the General Meetings are run by the Chair and the Steering Committee, assisted by the Secretariat.
A number of CETAF members, or national consortia in which CETAF members play leading roles, have since 1998 received support through the European Commission's Framework Programmes to enhance transnational access to their collections, equipment and expertise.
CETAF initiatives
- SYNTHESYS (Synthesis of Systematic Resources) – A CETAF Integrated Infrastructure Initiative in EU FPVI and FPVII
- European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy (EDIT) – A CETAF network of Excellence in Taxonomy for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, EU FPVI, which started 1 March 2006. The project ended in 2011.[2]
- European Journal of Taxonomy (EJT) – A peer-reviewed international journal in descriptive taxonomy, covering the eukaryotic world. (ISSN 2118-9773)
- Distributed European School of Taxonomy (DEST) – Established by EDIT
- European Network for Biodiversity Information (ENBI) – This was the European contribution to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). The project was coordinated by the Zoological Museum Amsterdam[3], and ended in 2015.[4]
- Biological Collection Access Service (BioCASe) – Historically, this was known as the Biological Collection Access Service for Europe (BioCASE).
- Fauna Europaea
- ICEDIG (Innovation and consolidation for large scale digitisation of natural heritage)
- EU BON (European Biodiversity Observation Network)
- BIOTALENT – a blended e-learning biodiversity training programme
Members
The following is a list of members, the nations in which these members are situated, and associated institutions:[5]
| Country | Member(s) | Institution(s) |
|---|---|---|
 Austria
|
Biology Centre of Upper Austria State Museums | Same as member |
| Natural History Museum, Vienna | Same as member | |
 Belgium
|
Meise Botanic Garden | Same as member |
| Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences | Same as member | |
| Royal Museum for Central Africa | Same as member | |
 Bulgaria
|
Bulgarian Consortium | Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research |
| National Museum of Natural History | ||
 Czech Republic
|
Czech Consortium | Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague |
| Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences | ||
| National Museum, Prague – Natural History Museum | ||
 Denmark
|
Natural History Museum of Denmark | Same as member |
 Estonia
|
Estonian Consortium: Estonian Academy of Sciences | Estonian Museum of Natural History |
| Estonian University of Life Sciences | ||
| Tallinn University of Technology | ||
| University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden | ||
 Finland
|
Finnish Museum of Natural History | Same as member |
 France
|
National Museum of Natural History | Same as member |
 Germany
|
Bavarian Natural History Collections | Same as member |
| Natural History Museum, Berlin | Same as member | |
| Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin | Same as member | |
| Senckenberg Naturmuseum Frankfurt | Same as member | |
| Stuttgart State Museum of Natural History | Same as member | |
| Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig | Same as member | |
| NORe e. V. Association of German Natural History Museums in the North Sea and Baltic Sea Region | CeNaK - Centre of Natural History - University of Hamburg | |
| German Oceanographic Museum Stralsund (NORe. page) | ||
| Müritzeum (NORe. page) | ||
| Museum of Nature and Environment, Lübeck (NORe. page) | ||
| Natural History Museum, Bielefeld (NORe. page) | ||
| State Natural History Museum, Braunschweig (NORe. page) | ||
| State Museum of Nature and Men Oldenburg (NORe. page | ||
| Übersee-Museum of Bremen (NORe. page) | ||
| Zoological Collection of the University of Rostock (NORe. page) | ||
| Zoological Institute and Museum Greifswald (NORe. page) | ||
| Zoological Museum of Kiel University (NORe. page) | ||
 Greece
|
Natural History Museum of Crete | Same as member |
 Hungary
|
Hungarian Natural History Museum | Same as member |
 Israel
|
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, National Natural History Collections | Same as member |
| The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Israel National Center for Biodiversity Studies | Same as member | |
 Italy
|
Italian Consortium | Natural History Museum of Genova |
| Natural History Museum, University of Florence | ||
 Luxembourg
|
National Museum of Natural History, Luxembourg | Same as member |
 Netherlands
|
Naturalis Biodiversity Center | Same as member |
 Norway
|
Natural History Museum, University of Oslo | Same as member |
 Poland
|
Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences | Same as member |
 Slovakia
|
Slovak Consortium: Slovak National Taxonomic Facility (NaTAF) | Comenius University, Faculty of Natural Sciences – Botany |
| Comenius University, Faculty of Natural Sciences – Zoology | ||
| Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice – Faculty of Science | ||
| Slovak Academy of Sciences – Institute of Botany | ||
| Slovak Academy of Sciences – Institute of Zoology | ||
| Slovak National Museum – Museum of National History | ||
 Spain
|
Spanish Consortium | CSIC. National Museum of Natural Sciences |
| CSIC. Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid | ||
 Sweden
|
Swedish Museum of Natural History | Same as member |
| Gothenburg Consortium | Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Gothenburg University | |
| Gothenburg Botanical Garden | ||
| Gothenburg Natural History Museum | ||
 Switzerland
|
Natural History Museum of Bern | Same as member |
| Geneva Consortium | Conservatory and Botanical Garden of the City of Geneva | |
| Natural History Museum of Geneva | ||
 United Kingdom
|
London Natural History Museum | Same as member |
| National Museums Scotland | Same as member | |
| Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh | Same as member | |
| Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew | Same as member |
References
- CETAF position paper, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC) Madrid, Spain, 2004.
External links
 |
