The centre, in the municipality of Ostana, was founded thanks to a project of the Monviso Park, held as part of the “Terres Monviso” Cross-border Integrated Plan. The scientific facility is dedicated to the study of the Alpine rivers, and works in collaboration with the universities of Piedmont.

One of the main purposes of the centre is to become an experimental research station of a high scientific level strongly rooted in the territory but, at the same time, characterized by an international scope: It also provides a venue for conferences on the themes of ecology and river hydraulics, courses of training aimed at technicians and professionals in the sector and didactic days aimed at schools of all levels.

The centre is characterised by its range of tools for continuously acquiring environmental data. The Centre becomes an important point of reference as it is equipped with control units for the automated detection of the main environmental data, both meteorological and hydrological.