Different from conventional research activities that are often disciplinary-specific, this project is characterized as being trans-disciplinary and is an integrative research initiative under the strong leadership of the president of Sophia University.

It is designed to develop a top world-class research platform at Sophia University which partners with other prestigious research institutions around the world for conducting advanced research on sustainable development via integrated river basin study. The primary focus is to establish a next generation framework of river basin governance with new concepts and to develop new guidelines of river basin management accordingly. The ultimate goal is to contribute to achieving SDGs at watershed scale.

Project features include probing into environmental problems from both macro and micro perspectives, dealing with both engineering and regulatory aspects, targeting both wet and dry regions, exploring solutions for both disaster reduction and ecosystem conservation, combining economic development with environmental ethics, having research fields in both developed and developing countries.

https://dept.sophia.ac.jp/is/risgenv/en/report/