[Science News] - DiSSCo Flanders 2.0 kicks off at Meise Botanic Garden

On April 28th, 2025, Meise Botanic Garden welcomed partners for the official launch of DiSSCo Flanders 2.0, a new project that will make it easier to access and explore natural science collections in Flanders. The event brought together partners from universities, museums, and research institutes to look back on previous work and discuss plans for the future.

DiSSCo Flanders 2.0, supported by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO), is part of a larger European initiative DiSSCo (Distributed System of Scientific Collections), which brings together natural science collections from 23 countries into one digital network. The goal is to make millions of plant, animal, fossil, and mineral specimens easier to find, use, and share.

“These collections are incredibly important for understanding nature, climate change, and our planet’s history”, said Maarten Trekels, DiSSCo Flanders coordinator. “But many of these collections are difficult to find, with limited online access. DiSSCo is working to solve this by turning physical specimens into high-quality digital versions that are easy for scientists around the world to find and use.”

Flanders is playing an important part in this effort. The DiSSCo Flanders team is digitising local collections and using tools like artificial intelligence to improve how this information is organised and linked to other data, such as species names, DNA sequences, and literature data.

The project is also inviting the public to get involved. Through the DoeDat.be platform, anyone can help by contributing to online tasks like transcribing specimen labels. “With training, new technology, and public involvement, DiSSCo Flanders 2.0 is helping to preserve Flanders’ rich and diverse collections, and making sure it’s available to scientists, students, and curious minds across the globe”, emphasises Frederik Leliaert, project promoter.