The agenda of the proposed PhD project entails an interdisciplinary investigation of entrepreneurship within the Maori society. From an anthropological and environmental point of view, a case study is planned which considers the implications of Maori entrepreneurship for social change in terms of resource use and work society. Indigenous people, for example the Maori, have a different understanding of entrepreneurship (Frederick 2002; Frederick & Henry 2004) as opposed to a western comprehension of business-making. Nature-close entrepreneurship is, inter alia, a general feature of indigenous entrepreneurs (Peredo et al. 2004; Dana and Anderson 2011: 251) and the principle of sustainable development has been evolved and implemented in New Zealand as the first country worldwide (Littbarski 2005; Smith 1997; Fureseth & Cocklin 1995). Furthermore, the typical entrepreneur in New Zealand is more an opportunity-based lifestyle entrepreneur, opting for work-life balance rather than wealth creation (Maritz 2006).

This project examines the effects of a `green´ understanding of entrepreneurship within the Maori culture and therewith the question is raised if indigenous entrepreneurship could be seen as an example for a sustainable way of economic development. The qualitative field study is based on semi-structured and unstructured interviews with entrepreneurs among Maori people on the North Island of New Zealand. The most important objective is to analyze the relationship between landscape and Maori entrepreneurship. The purpose of this project is to identify significant issues and qualitative data that may deserve to be studied in a more accurate way so as to understand the development of indigenous entrepreneurship and what western societies could learn about `green´ local business making which is based on self-sufficiency. All in all, the dynamics of the Maori understanding of entrepreneurship should be investigated from the Maori entrepreneurs´ point of view in order to appreciate their way of indigenous entrepreneurship and its impact on the landscape.