The 15th anniversary symposium celebrating the establishment of the Disaster Prevention Research Center was held at National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan on Oct. 25 and 26, 2011.

The Disaster Prevention Research Center was established at this university in October 1996 to meet social demand for the prevention of sediment-related disasters. This demand particularly increased after severe sediment-related disasters occurred mainly along the Chenyoulan River (tributary of the Zhuoshui River) in central Taiwan when Typhoon Herb hit the area in July 1996.

Experts on sediment-related disasters and floods from countries such as Japan, Austria, South Korea, China, and Indonesia attended the symposium.