The River Basin Research Center has the following goals to promote river basin conservation activities in collaboration with universities, research institutes, observation and research networks both at home and abroad:

- carry out comprehensive analyses on river basins where the natural environment, human activities and society are constantly interacting with each other

- expand basin conservation research for sustainable use of natural resources based on river basin sciences

- by achieving the two goals above, the center aims to become a core base for research and education in every relevant academic research field.

As part of its conservation efforts, the center hosted the 3rd River Basin Conservation Research Promotion Seminar (March 5) and International Symposium (March 6) on campus.

At the beginning of the seminar, President Hisataka Moriwaki and Director Yoshio Awaya of the center gave opening speeches. The following were the main programs of the seminar:

- two lectures by visiting professors

- two lectures by guest speakers

- three presentations for joint research programs

- twenty-three poster presentations, and - activity reports by Takayama Field Station, Rearing Program for Basin Water Environmental Leaders (BWEL), and a joint research support office

The participants shared their thoughts and ideas about joint research activities and human resource development programs being implemented by the center. For poster presentations, the awards for excellence were given to three presentations made by the students. At the end of the seminar, Vice President Shuichi Nonomura (Executive Director for Academic Research & Information) gave closing remarks wishing for further advancements of joint research activities.

In the symposium on March 6, people discussed 1) the current status of river basin areas significantly influenced by climate change, and exposed to incessant changes in human society, and 2) roles of environmental research for sustainable society. Six professors including Professor I Nengah Surati Jaya from Bogor Agricultural University (Indonesia, an oversea partner university of Gifu University) were invited as keynote speakers. They spoke about the environmental issues such as climate change and population increase in Asia. Specifically, they exchanged opinions about mangrove forest preservation, ecosystem service assessment in hilly and mountainous regions, and water damage prediction in Shiga and Toyama prefectures.

A total of 76 people (of them, 23 were outside of the university, 15 were international students) took part in this two-day event where a lot of cross-sectional discussions beyond academic, national and regional boundaries took place, which resulted in a number of new joint research proposals made by researchers and scholars in attendance.

The River Basin Research Center continues to engage in a wide-ranging research and exchange activities involving and collaborating with local communities and organizations.