Taxonomy, the science that describes, identifies, classifies and names living beings, is at a crossroads. As the most fundamental of life sciences, is more vital than ever to our understanding and management of biodiversity. Societal changes and new technologies currently lead to fast and deep-ranging transformations in taxonomic science.

To plan for the future, the European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy has gathered prominent researchers in the relevant fields as well as young scientists, all with an established production of excellent research. They have produced a scientific vision for the future of taxonomy in the next 10 to 20 years. This report, "Taxonomy in Europe in the 21st Century", is now released for discussion in the scientific community and general public. 

The Board of Directors of EDIT, representing 27 major taxonomic institutions in and outside Europe, has approved this document as a scientific roadmap for future development of taxonomy in research, training and technology in the coming decades.

More information on EDIT is available at http://e-taxonomy.eu. For further questions please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it