Fifth GOOS Regional Alliance Forum, will be held on Oct. 3, alongside the EuroGOOS Conference in Sopot Poland, Oct. 4-6, 2011. The GRF Council will meet Oct. 3, just before the conferences. The EuroGOOS Conference will focus on Sustainable Operational Oceanography relating to activities of systematic routine measurements of the seas, oceans and marine atmosphere. Progress made since EuroGOOS V in Exeter UK, 2008 in developing products, real-time interpretation and dissemination of the information will be reported. In conjunction with the Conference a meeting of the chairs of the GOOS Regional Alliances will be held. A session highlighting advances in the GRAs will be held during the Conference, while the forum of GRA chairs will discuss global cooperation between the GRAs, on Oct. 3th. The Coastal GOOS Module has been planned and discussed for many years. In parallel, coastal observing systems have been developed successfully in many areas. We know rather well what is required and possible at regional level. What does a global scale coastal system require? How can we at the regional scale contribute to and benefit from a GOOS Coastal Module? I believe we have an important meeting ahead. We will not solve everything, far from that, but we might get the ball rolling. 1) The business part of the GRFV on 3 October according to the agenda below, hosted by the Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Science, Sopot (located near the conference hotel). 2) The presentations describing activities in the different GRAs planned as a special session of the EuroGOOS Conference, on the morning of 5 October. If you have not already done so, please register on the conference site and inform the EuroGOOS Office by sending an email to sian.petersson@eurogoos.eu.