On 13 June, the Third Assembly of the DiSSCo National Node in Spain was held at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid. The event featured presentations from new members and a productive working session with nearly all Node members participating, both in person and online.
During the Third General Assembly, all institutions of the National Node were invited to attend. The assembly provided updates on new members, Spain’s current status within the European infrastructure, and upcoming actions.
Representatives from various centers discussed the current situation, exchanged views, and strengthened ties. They also welcomed two new organizations: the Cabildo de Gran Canaria with the Viera y Clavijo Canarian Botanical Garden and the University of Granada, along with two additional CSIC centers: the Instituto Mixto de Investigación en Biodiversidad (IMIB) in Asturias and the Instituto de Biología Evolutiva (IBE) in Barcelona.
Following the General Assembly, the Node Coordinator and Director of the National Museum of Natural Sciences, Rafael Zardoya, introduced presentations from the collections of new members. This was followed by a working session that included a SWOT analysis of the Node.
In the afternoon session, once the SWOT analysis was completed, the INC-STEP Project was introduced. The project, led by researchers and curators from CSIC, involves collections from the MNCN, the University of Navarra, the Faculty of Biology of the Complutense University of Madrid, the Natural History Museum of Valencia, and the Consorci Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona (MCNB). Additionally, the latest Specify updates and digitization prioritization criteria were explained. The day concluded with a round of questions and a debate.
