"River basin areas," are very close to our daily lives. They are deeply involved in human ecosystem in both rural, agricultural and urban areas as they have miscellaneous elements of nature such as forests, rivers and soils all of which are constantly interacting with one another.

Gifu University River Basin Research Center is promoting joint research programs with relevant communities and human resource development with the following goal in mind; create "water basin areas conservation studies" for realization of sustainable water basin areas through interdisciplinary research which includes comprehensive analysis and prediction of changes in river basin areas, ecosystem services and risk assessment against natural disasters, etc.

On March 6 and 7, 2017, as part of this effort, the 1^st River Basin Conservation Research Promotion Seminar including an international symposium entitled, "International Symposium of River Basin Studies - Towards the Interdisciplinary Study for Sustainable Basin Environment and Human Well-Being -," was held at Yanagido Campus, Gifu University.

The symposium started with speeches by President Hisataka Moriwaki and Professor Yoshio Awaya, Director of the River Basin Research Center. Four special lectures including lectures by invited speakers from Indonesia, Australia and the United States followed. Later, 11 research activity reporting, 34 poster presentations in English, introduction of activities at Takayama Field Station, Gifu University Rearing Program for Basin Water Environmental Leasers (BWEL), and also activities at joint research support offices. A total of 69 people (of them, 28 were from other institutions, 13 were international students on and off campus) attended for two-day session. During the session, the participants exchanged opinions across academic fields, nation and regions and also made a number of proposals about new joint research projects among them.

The River Basin Research Center continues to facilitate joint activities with relevant communities and hold a similar seminar annually in an effort to develop Gifu University's water basin conservation initiatives for the years to come.