On September 19, 2009, a delegation consisting of 6 experts headed by Prof. Chunhong HU, Secretary General and Deputy Director of International Research and Training Center on Erosion and Sedimentation (IRTCES), visited Kyoto University, Japan. The visit was guided by three members from the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of the 12th International Symposium on River Sedimentation (ISRS12) under the leadership of Prof. Hajime NAKAGAWA, Secretary General of the Symposium. The visit started from a field trip to the main venue of the Symposium, the Obaku Plaza of Kyoto University. After that, the members of the delegation took a drive to the Ujigawa Open Laboratory where the secretariat of the Symposium LOC located. A one-hour discussion was made at the meeting-room of the Laboratory, which was followed by a Laboratory visit and facilities experience. In the meeting, Prof. Hu, on behalf of IRTCES that acts as the permanent Secretariat of ISRS, expressed his thanks to Prof. Nakagawa for the arrangement of the visit and the enthusiasm to host ISRS12. He mentioned that he was also a representative of Prof. Des. E. Walling, President of WASER, to evaluate the venue of ISRS12. Prof. Hu said that the delegation was much impressed by the environment of the venue and the efficiency of the LOC after the examination of the proposal and relevant document, in-situ investigation of the venue and discussion. Prof. Nakagawa appreciated Prof. Hu’s kind words and his efforts in supporting Kyoto as the host city of the Symposium. He said that Prof. Hu and IRTCES had lots of experiences and know-how in symposium organizations and international communications and asked the IRTECS members for their kind suggestions/advices on the organizing work. The technical details of the symposium organization as well as future collaborations between both sides were also discussed.

The International Symposia on River Sedimentation (ISRS) is a triennial event initiated in 1980. With the support from the UNESCO and the related international associations, and with the participation of the experts and scholars worldwide, the ISRS has drawn wide attention and become one of the attractive technical events in the world. The ISRS provides an opportunity for scientists, engineers, researchers and decision-makers to exchange ideas, research results and advanced techniques, and establish friendship. The ISRS has been successfully organized 10 times in China, USA, Germany, India, Hong Kong China, Egypt and Russia. Since the 9th ISRS held in Yichang, China in 2004, the ISRS also serves as the official symposium of WASER. The 11th ISRS will be held in Stellenbosch, South Africa on September 6-9, 2010.
(by LIU Cheng, IRTCES & ZHANG Hao, Kyoto University)

In-situ investigation of the 12 ISRS venue


Discussions


Laboratory visiting


Group photo