INTERNATIONAL NETWORKING
Luomus is an active member in many international networks relating to its fields of research. Luomus represents Finland in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) -network, and is a member in the Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities CETAF. Leif Schulman, the Director of Luomus, was appointed as chairman for the board of CETA 16.5.2019–31.12.2020.
In 2018, the Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo) was included in the European roadmap for research infrastructures. Luomus leads the national DiSSCo consortium. In February 2020, Luomus hosted the first annual meeting of the international consortium, that consists of 20 lands and over 120 collections. The meeting chose Aino Juslén, Director of the Zoological Unit, as vice chairperson for the general meeting.
Luomus has significant input to EU projects that help in developing DiSSCo. In 2018–2020, Luomus coordinated the ICEDIG-project that developed technical, financial and governmental methods for the support of the DiSSCo network. In 2019, Luomus was included as part of the Synthesys-network based on its high quality activities. The network develops, among other things, virtual services for collection units. It also offers, thanks to EU-funding, a chance for international researchers to visit the collections at Luomus. DiSSCo Prepare -project prepares and develops the research infrastructure to become a permanent organisation.
