The CETAF General Assembly (CETAF52) met on the 23nd and 24th of November in Israel, splitting between the two venues of The National Natural History Collection of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History of the Tel Aviv University. Representatives from the 41 members, representing 74 institutions, the Consortium of the European Taxonomic Facilities (CETAF), met to share experiences, the outcomes and achievements of the ongoing initiatives and projects from CETAF or of CETAF member institutions. During the two-day event, participants were updated about the progress made by the CETAF, CETAF working groups, CETAF projects and initiatives and focused on the importance of taxonomy in and across Europe during a participatory session to develop the CETAF Research Agenda for Natural History Institutions. “It has been a very successful General Assembly,– says Michelle Price, Vice-President (acting President) of CETAF – with the consortium showing lots of dynanic progress and projecting into the future with the development of its new Business Plan. We are looking forward to the launch of the CETAF community project TETTRIs that has just officially started, with the kick-off meeting planned for the end of January 2023. We really believe this new project will empower the community and enable it in transforming and improving European taxonomy through innovation and training.”“Every General Assembly we realize that we’ve been doing many more things than expected in the previous six months” – says Ana Casino, CETAF’s Executive Director – “That’s why we dedicated a good part of the meeting in Israel to planing for the future and identify the unique role of the organization in the biodiversity knowledge landscape. We, the Secretariat, are growing with another few of people being added to the team in 2023, and the consortium is growing with interest expressed by several new institutions in joining.”
