1 General Meeting - Carvoeiro January 2008 EDIT WP8 Training resources in Europe and the School of Taxonomy Jackie Van Goethem

Training resources in taxonomy and gap analysis Loss of taxonomic expertise Passing-on of taxonomic knowledge compromised? What is the current offer of taxonomic training? Rationale for this study Strengths and Weaknesses Set up of a European School of Taxonomy Accessibility Content Training material 2 EDIT WP8 General Meeting - Carvoeiro January 2008

Training resources in taxonomy and gap analysis Online survey Data source 3 Interviews Websites Public documentation Sets of information Europe 201 Outside Europe 45 Layout of the online survey

Training resources in taxonomy and gap analysis 4 Geographical distribution of answers collected on training in taxonomy in Europe. Data source EDIT WP8 General Meeting - Carvoeiro January 2008

5 Some results Accessibility Targeted geographical audience EDIT WP8 General Meeting - Carvoeiro January 2008 Training resources in taxonomy and gap analysis

6 Some results Accessibility Language EDIT WP8 General Meeting - Carvoeiro January 2008

Training resources in taxonomy and gap analysis 7 Some results Accessibility Periodicity and length EDIT WP8 General Meeting - Carvoeiro January 2008

Training resources in taxonomy and gap analysis 8 Some results Content Nomenclatural rules YES (51%) NO (49%) EDIT WP8 General Meeting - Carvoeiro January 2008

Training resources in taxonomy and gap analysis 9 Some results Content Taxa EDIT WP8 General Meeting - Carvoeiro January 2008

Training resources in taxonomy and gap analysis 10 Some results Content Taxa EDIT WP8 General Meeting - Carvoeiro January 2008

Training resources in taxonomy and gap analysis 11 Some results Content Taxa EDIT WP8 General Meeting - Carvoeiro January 2008

Training resources in taxonomy and gap analysis 12 Some results Content Taxa EDIT WP8 General Meeting - Carvoeiro January 2008

Training resources in taxonomy and gap analysis 13 Some results Training material Form EDIT WP8 General Meeting - Carvoeiro January 2008

Training resources in taxonomy and gap analysis 14 Conclusions Strengths EDIT WP8 Training offer definitely exists Many courses open to international audience Most of trainings do not focus exclusively on taxonomy No centralised information on trainings Weaknesses Nomenclatural rules not enough integrated Negligence of less popular taxa Lack of training for technicians and other non-academics Poor accessibility of course material General Meeting - Carvoeiro January 2008

Training resources in taxonomy and gap analysis 15 Conclusions Threats EDIT WP8 Opportunities Omission of taxonomic costs in research projects Confrontation between ‘traditional’ and ‘molecular’ approach Lack of replacement of retiring taxonomists Growing importance of data-based projects EDIT School of Taxonomy General Meeting - Carvoeiro January 2008

Set up of a European School of Taxonomy 16 Objectives High level and up-to-date taxonomic education at all levels Leading to recognised diploma Establish concerted network of highly skilled training providers Federate existing training resources and new training opportunities Distributed and virtual Open to European and non-European scholars EDIT WP8 General Meeting - Carvoeiro January 2008

Set up of a European School of Taxonomy 17 Needs Define teaching priorities related to future research, new tools and technologies EDIT WP8 General Meeting - Carvoeiro January 2008 Promote collaboration with societies and associations Stimulate the organisation of more short and intensive courses Reinforce the study of nomenclatural rules Improve the accessibility and exchange of training material Support capacity building in countries in the South

18 EDIT WP8 General Meeting - Carvoeiro January 2008 Presentation prepared by Dr Vincent Zintzen and Dr Isabella Van de Velde Thank you for your attention