This two-day symposium is jointly organized by GBIF and by the Institute of Zoology of Republic of Kazakhstan with the support from the Scientific Society Tethys and Kazakhstan Programme Committee for the UNESCO Program “Man and the Biosphere” (MAB).

Meeting goals

• Raise awareness of GBIF as an international network and data data infrastructure for biodiversity
• Highlight key benefits for science and policy, progress on national participation, and regional growth and development of the network
• Clarify and discuss institutional and individual benefits of FAIR and open data for biodiversity
• Increase the number of institutions registered as GBIF publishers and listed in Global Registry of Scientific Collection (GRSciColl)
• Demystify key concepts, standards, tools and processes
• Encourage data publishing, access and citation

Agenda outline

Joining GBIF

• Introductions
  Speeches and opening remarks
• GBIF global relevance
  What is GBIF, and why does it matter? GBIF for science and policy at national, regional and global scales
• GBIF in Eurasia
  Introduction to GBIF’s regional activities through presentations from guest speakers, as this work requires a community who promote the sharing and use of biodiversity data as well as technical expertise and support. The session will explore how GBIF aspires to support national, institutional and individual capacity needs, with a focus on Central Asia and on adjacent states.

Participating in GBIF

• Accessing GBIF for scientific and practical use
  Millions of biodiversity data records are freely and openly available online for use and application. The session will cover key avenues for benefiting from open data as well as best practices around data access, data use, and data citations.
• Managing and publishing biodiversity data
  Proactive efforts are required to standardize and publish open biodiversity data and make it accessible and citable. How does one start, either as an organization or an individual? This session will outline best practices, standards, tools and other solutions to make managing and sharing data easy and efficient.

Registration

The deadline for registering interest in attending the symposium by 1 September 2024.

Only confirmed participants will have access to the symposium venues.

Register interest in attending symposium

Languages and format

The symposium’s working languages are English and Russian, and the event will take place within live on-site sessions only (remote or hybrid attendance is not possible).

Questions

• For information on the the agenda, contact central-asia@gbif.org or Marina A. Chirikova
• For further information on accommodation and logistics, contact Ilya A. Zhuravlev

Follow-on event: BioDATA Advanced workshop

A satellite workshop organized by BioDATA Advanced led by University of Oslo will follow on 20-22 November 2024 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Those who wish to attend this workshop must complete a separate registration for that event on the BioDATA Advanced project page.

Travel

Limited financial support for travel and accommodation costs will be available; those interested in attending may request this through the expression of interest form.

Those interested in attending both the symposium and the BioDATA Advanced workshop must 1) take into account symposium and workshop dates and 2) wait for registration confirmations from one or both events prior to booking tickets.