The Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo) is a pan-European Research Infrastructure of 21 countries. It positions natural science collections at the centre of scientific excellence and innovation in research on the environment, biodiversity, climate change, food security, health and bioeconomy. DiSSCo’s mission is to mobilise, unify and deliver bio- and geodiversity information at a
scale, format, and precision required by scientific communities, transforming the fragmented landscape into a coherent research infrastructure. If funded DiSSCo will intensify the collaboration and exchange of expertise between Belgian collections by integrating and upgrading their distributed infrastructure and collections. The scope covers collections in botany, zoology and geology, including molecular collections. By optimising the physical and digital management of these collections we will enable innovative science. Also, by improving access to them we will increase the visibility and usage of our collections regionally, nationally, and internationally.