The Third GOOS Regional Forum took place from 14-17 November 2006 in Cape Town and was hosted by the Marine Research Institute of the University of Cape Town. The Forum was attended by representatives of most of the established GOOS Regional Alliances (GRAs). Attendees also included the I-GOOS board, some members of the GOOS Scientific Steering Committee (GSSC), and the co-chair of the Coastal Ocean Observations Panel (COOP), and the chair of the Ocean Observations Panel for Climate (OOPC), some representatives of IOC member states, representatives of the Large Marine Ecosystem programs and several participants from universities and marine science and fisheries institutions in Africa.

The Forum provided an opportunity for GRAs to report on progress, explore common interests, demonstrate successes, and explore common problems, with the aim of finding shared solutions.

Four intersessional working groups were established to address:

• WG0: Potential mechanism(s) for a coordinated development of the Global Coastal Network of the Coastal Module of GOOS taking into consideration the recommendations of the ad hoc JCOMM-GSSC-GRA group.
• WG1: GRAs-LME partnerships
• WG2: Roles of GRAs in implementing the GEO Coastal Community of Practice and in developing Multi-hazards Integrated Systems for Disasters Mitigation for tropical cyclones, extra-tropical cyclones and Tsunamis.
• WG3: Progress since the 2nd GOOS Regional Forum and GRAs’ Strengths, constraints, challenges, priorities, potential solutions, and best practices (including enabling regular interactions among GRAs to improve collaboration and coordination).

Background documents, presentations and working group reports including recommendations to the GOOS Governing Bodies  are available at:

http://www.ioc-goos.org/index.php?option=com_oe&task=viewEventRecord&eventID=35