# 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 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. Together, CETAF institutions hold a large fraction (c. 500 million objects) of the world’s most important natural history collections.

## 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.

## Initiatives and related projects

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.
* 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

### CETAF related research projects

* 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, and ended in 2015.
* 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:
| Country | Member |
| Albania | University of Tirana, Albania Collections based at the Research Center of Flora and Fauna |
| Austria | Biology Centre of Upper Austria State Museums |
| Austria | Natural History Museum, Vienna |
| Belgium | Meise Botanic Garden |
| Belgium | Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences |
| Belgium | Royal Museum for Central Africa |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| France | National Museum of Natural History |
| Germany | Bavarian Natural History Collections |
| Germany | Berlin Natural History Museum |
| Germany | Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin |
| Germany | Leibniz Institute for Analysis of Biodiversity Change |
| Germany | Senckenberg Society for Nature Research |
| Germany | Stuttgart State Museum of Natural History |
| Germany | NORe e. V. Association of German Natural History Museums in the North Sea and Baltic Sea Region: German Oceanographic Museum Stralsund Haus der Natur Cismar Müritzeum Museum of Nature and Environment Lübeck Natural History Museum, Bielefeld State Natural History Museum, Braunschweig State Museum of Nature and Men Oldenburg Übersee-Museum of Bremen Zoological Collection of the University of Rostock Zoological Institute and Museum Greifswald Zoological Museum of Kiel University |
| Greece | Natural History Museum of Crete |
| Hungary | Hungarian Natural History Museum |
| Iceland | Natural Science Museum of Iceland |
| Israel | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, National Natural History Collections |
| Israel | The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Israel National Center for Biodiversity Studies |
| Italy | Museum and Botanical Garden of the University of Pisa |
| Italy | Italian Consortium: Natural History Museum of Genova Natural History Museum – Florence University Museum System |
| Latvia | University of Daugavpils |
| Luxembourg | National Museum of Natural History, Luxembourg |
| Netherlands | Naturalis Biodiversity Center |
| Norway | Natural History Museum, University of Oslo |
| Poland | Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences |
| 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 |
| Sweden | Gothenburg Consortium: Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Gothenburg University Gothenburg Botanical Garden Gothenburg Natural History Museum |
| Switzerland | Natural History Museum of Bern |
| Switzerland | Geneva Consortium: Conservatory and Botanical Garden of the City of Geneva Natural History Museum of Geneva |
| United Kingdom | Bristol Museum & Art Gallery |
| United Kingdom | London Natural History Museum |
| United Kingdom | Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester |
| United Kingdom | National Geological Repository |
| United Kingdom | National Museums Liverpool |
| United Kingdom | National Museums Northern Ireland |
| United Kingdom | National Museums Scotland |
| United Kingdom | Natural History | National Museum Wales |
| United Kingdom | Oxford University Museum of Natural History |
| United Kingdom | Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh |
| United Kingdom | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |
| United Kingdom | The Hunterian, University of Glasgow |