ABSTRACT
Small navies play a critical role as sovereign instruments of state in the attainment of ecosystem-based ocean governance while protecting national interests at and from the sea. Increasingly it is clear that in a world of growing complexity new institutional arrangements and the systematic embracing of open and ecosystem-centric innovation are essential for the post-modern era. Institutional arrangements that underpin Ocean Governance are sandwiched between two conflicting principles or freedom of the seas and mare clausum, enclosure of the sea. With the navy very much positioned within the Defence Forces as the servant of government and civil society the navy's strategic approach to achieve its mission was built around a campaign plan operating along three lines of development/training, support and operations. From the perspective of its strategy the Irish Navy looks at how adaptive dynamic capabilities can be institutionalised within organisation. There is a broad consensus that 'dynamic capabilities' contrast with ordinary or operational capabilities by being concerned with change.
