EDIT 2006-2011

Toward the European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy
Reference Number: 018340

The overall objective of EDIT was to integrate European taxonomic effort within the ERA and to build a world leading capacity. EDIT created a European virtual centre of excellence, to increase both the scientific basis and capacity for biodiversity conservation.

The operational and structural objectives of EDIT were:

[1] To reduce fragmentation and to transform taxonomy into an integrated science

[2] To strengthen the scientific, technological and information capacities needed for Europe to understand how biodiversity is modified through Global change

[3] To progress toward a transnational entity by encouraging durable integration of the most important European taxonomic institutions, forming the nucleus of excellence around and from which institutions and taxonomists can integrate their activities

[4] To promote the undertaking of collaborative research developing, improving and utilising the bio-informatics technologies needed

[5] To create a forum for stakeholders and end-users for taxonomy in biodiversity and ecosystem research

[6] To promote the spreading of excellence to fulfil the needs of biodiversity and ecosystem research for taxonomy based information.

EDIT addressed significant information and management of knowledge problems in a rapidly changing field. The issues to be addressed were structural: about governance and management; about providing a suitable IT environment; about the development of new tools; and about getting taxonomists to work as one across European (and other) institutions.

EDIT brought together the leading taxonomic institutions in Europe that for historical reasons have developed independently. The association with leading North American and Russian partners make it a worldwide leading network. The consortium so constituted unites the premier natural history collections-based institutions, to progress toward EDIT’s structural and scientific objectives. It is the intention of the current EDIT membership to extend membership progressively.