diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 97e25e5..2b67090 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -62,6 +62,16 @@
 
   <build>
     <resources>
+      <!-- thesaurus files packaged into jar -->
+      <resource>
+        <directory>resources/thesauri/theme</directory>
+        <targetPath>thesaurus/theme</targetPath>
+      </resource>
+      <resource>
+        <directory>resources/thesauri/place</directory>
+        <targetPath>thesaurus/place</targetPath>
+      </resource>
+
       <resource>
         <directory>src/main/config/translations</directory>
         <targetPath>META-INF/catalog/locales</targetPath>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/fao/geonet/schema/dcatap/init/SchemaInitializerThesauri.java b/src/main/java/org/fao/geonet/schema/dcatap/init/SchemaInitializerThesauri.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..def540b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/fao/geonet/schema/dcatap/init/SchemaInitializerThesauri.java
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2001-2024 Food and Agriculture Organization of the
+ * United Nations (FAO-UN), United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
+ * and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at
+ * your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+ * WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
+ * General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA
+ *
+ * Contact: Jeroen Ticheler - FAO - Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 2,
+ * Rome - Italy. email: geonetwork@osgeo.org
+ */
+
+package org.fao.geonet.schema.dcatap.init;
+
+import org.fao.geonet.constants.Geonet;
+import org.fao.geonet.domain.Setting;
+import org.fao.geonet.domain.SettingDataType;
+import org.fao.geonet.kernel.GeonetworkDataDirectory;
+import org.fao.geonet.kernel.setting.SettingManager;
+import org.fao.geonet.repository.SettingRepository;
+import org.fao.geonet.utils.Log;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
+import org.springframework.context.ApplicationListener;
+import org.springframework.core.Ordered;
+import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
+import org.springframework.core.io.support.PathMatchingResourcePatternResolver;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+
+/**
+ * This class sets up the thesaurus files required by the DCAT-AP schema.
+ * <p>
+ * See config-spring-geonetwork.xml in this schema
+ */
+public class SchemaInitializerThesauri implements
+    ApplicationListener<GeonetworkDataDirectory.GeonetworkDataDirectoryInitializedEvent>,
+    Ordered {
+
+    private static final boolean OVERWRITE_EXISTING_THESAURI = true;
+
+    private static final String RESOURCE_TYPE_DIR = "external"; // "local" or "external"
+    private static final String JAR_RDF_PATTERN = "thesaurus/**/*.rdf"; //find rdf files in the JAR
+
+    // for each of the RDF files included in this JAR, if its not in the corresponding location in datadir, then we copy it in
+    public void configureThesauruses(Path thesauriDir) throws IOException {
+        PathMatchingResourcePatternResolver resolver =
+            new PathMatchingResourcePatternResolver(Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader());
+        //for each of the .rdf files
+        for (Resource r : resolver.getResources(JAR_RDF_PATTERN)) {
+            String fname = r.getFilename(); //i.e. thesaurus/theme/EC_ISO_Countries.rdf
+            String[] subDirs = r.getURI().toURL().getPath().split(Pattern.quote("/"));
+            String dir = subDirs[subDirs.length - 2]; // ie. "theme"
+            ///put in - WEB-INF/data/config/codelist/external/thesauri/theme/EC_ISO_Countries.rdf
+            //ensure that dirs exist
+            Files.createDirectories(Paths.get(thesauriDir.toString(), RESOURCE_TYPE_DIR, "thesauri", dir));
+            //full path to put the .rdf
+            Path correspondingDataDirFile = Paths.get(thesauriDir.toString(), RESOURCE_TYPE_DIR, "thesauri", dir, fname);
+            if (!Files.exists(correspondingDataDirFile) || OVERWRITE_EXISTING_THESAURI) {
+                if (Files.exists(correspondingDataDirFile))
+                    Files.delete(correspondingDataDirFile);
+                //need to copy it in...
+                Log.info(Geonet.THESAURUS, String.format("DCAT-AP schema initialisation - copy thesaurus: %s", fname));
+                try (InputStream is = r.getInputStream()) { //auto close
+                    Files.copy(is, correspondingDataDirFile);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+
+    //when the data dir is configured, we're good to copy in our thesauruses
+    @Override
+    public void onApplicationEvent(GeonetworkDataDirectory.GeonetworkDataDirectoryInitializedEvent event) {
+        Path thesauriDir = event.getSource().getThesauriDir();
+        try {
+            configureThesauruses(thesauriDir);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            Log.error(Geonet.THESAURUS, "DCAT-AP schema initialisation - load thesaurus files", e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int getOrder() {
+        return 1;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/resources/config-spring-geonetwork.xml b/src/main/resources/config-spring-geonetwork.xml
index cf54748..6c1a5e6 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/config-spring-geonetwork.xml
+++ b/src/main/resources/config-spring-geonetwork.xml
@@ -28,6 +28,11 @@
     xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd">
 
+  <!-- copies the DCAT-AP thesaurus files -->
+  <bean id="dcat-ap.startup"
+        class="org.fao.geonet.schema.dcatap.init.SchemaInitializerThesauri">
+  </bean>
+
   <bean id="dcat-apSchemaPlugin"
         class="org.fao.geonet.schema.dcatap.DCATAPSchemaPlugin">
     <property name="xpathTitle">