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The Australasian taxonomy and systematics community, under the auspices of the Australian Academy of Science and with part-funding from the Ian Potter Foundation, is developing a decadal-scale strategic plan for taxonomy and biosystematics in Australasia.

A key part of the process will be a series of stakeholder/sector meetings in each Australian capital city.

A meeting in Canberra is planned for Monday 16 October at the Discovery Centre Auditorium at CSIRO Black Mountain.

The main aim of the meeting is to workshop a strategic vision for the next decade of taxonomy and systematics in Australasia – what should be priorities, what milestones could be passed, what should be an overarching aim or aims for the decade 2018-2028.

At the end of the series of national meetings, the Decadal Plan Working Group will synthesize ideas across all of the meetings, for incorporation into the decadal plan and further discussion following release of an exposure draft of the Plan scheduled for late November.

The meeting will commence at 9am; discussions in the morning will focus on stakeholder perspectives, while after lunch we will focus more on perspectives from within the taxonomic community. Please feel free to join us for all or (if you are a stakeholder) just the morning session of the meeting. Morning tea and lunch will be provided.

We hope that you will have a view on strategic directions for taxonomy and systematics, and will be willing to share your view to help shape the future of these disciplines in Australasia, hopefully in a way that will facilitate and improve your own work.

Please register before Friday 6 October. Further details on the meeting will be forwarded at that time.