The Participatory Schema for DiSSCo National Nodes offers strategic guidance and practical recommendations to support the structured and sustainable participation of National Nodes in the DiSSCo Research Infrastructure (DiSSCo RI). Developed within the framework of the DiSSCo Transition Project, the Schema builds on real-world experiences, up-to-date strategic documents, and DiSSCo’s long-term vision to unify and enhance access to Europe’s natural science collections through a distributed, digitally enabled infrastructure. DiSSCo Transition Project is funded by the European Union, under grant number 101130121. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.