The Research Center for Soil & Water Resources and Natural Disaster Prevention (SWAN) was officially founded in 2000, after the National Yunlin University of Science and Technology (YunTech) in Taiwan (Republic of China) signed the Cooperation Agreement with the Water Resources Bureau, (predecessor of Water Resources Agency, Ministry of Economic Affairs, WRA). Both SWAN and WRA have been devoted in promoting soil and water conservation and proceed researches, educational awareness and relative prevention works. The work of SWAN, as well as its achievements, led the WRA in 2004 to sign a permanent Memorandum of Agreement with the SWAN and authorized it to get involved more drastically in projects and works of the local communities and the surrounding areas.

Among other major objectives, the SWAN aims to secure the quality and to promote the tasks and the innovations made in the topical soil and water resources and its environment. Among other projects, it updates and disseminates disaster prevention awareness and technical knowledge in order to educate and protect the local communities by providing assistance or by managing soil and water resources conservation projects or disaster prevention works, mostly in the counties of Changhua, Yunlin and Chiayi.

The SWAN has established four (4) Departments; Secretary, Administration, Technical Innovation, Education and Public Awareness. The SWAN has managed to receive much positive feedback for its efforts and its contribution in the international research field and in activities all over Taiwan; that is why it has become a national leader in the field of natural resources and hazards. The SWAN has a very unique culture which distinctly sets it apart as one of the premier research centers in Taiwan and makes it a unique professional partner. It cooperates with universities and other research centers across the globe. It is worth mentioning that the SWAN, after becoming a member of the Asian University Network of Environment and Disaster Management (AUEDM) has participated in various environmental researches, disaster risk reduction studies and hazard management projects with several universities in order to create and apply new strategies and technologies on these matters.