The Sami Way of Entrepreneurship

Project summary In the field of entrepreneurship, much research is based on perspectives and data from urban areas in the US, like for example Silicon Valley. This Silicon Valley-perspective of entrepreneurship, with a strong focus on technology and growth, has no or only limited relevance for understanding indigenous and Sámi entrepreneurship. There is therefore a need to develop and implement an alternative approach to Sámi entrepreneurship, which we in this project label as ‘The Sámi Way’. ‘The Sámi Way’ of entrepreneurship will thereby represent something novel and innovative both in terms of theory development and practices. During the pilot project, “The Sámi Way – documenting and further development of Sámi entrepreneurship,” it became clear that there is a strong need for actors in the Sámi innovation system, such as Sápmi Business Garden, to document their experiences related to working with Sámi entrepreneurs and to make this tacit knowledge more explicit. How can the ‘The Sámi Way’ of entrepreneurship be understood, developed, and implemented in different geographical contexts of Sápmi? We answer this question looking through three lenses: the Sámi Entrepreneur, the support actors, and the policy makers, applying the Indigenous entrepreneurial ecosystem approach. Further we want to test out how this ‘Sámi Way’ of entrepreneurship, developed in Inner Finnmark, can be transferred to another Sámi geographical context, to Helgeland. We also investigate how internationalization can strengthen indigenous entrepreneurship, cooperating with researchers from New Zealand and Alaska, and last, we focus on a new business policy implementation of the Sámi Parliament in Norway. Two research institutions in Northern Norway will co create knowledge with partners from various fields of knowledge in Sápmi; Sapmi Business Garden, Sijte Jarnge, and the Sámi Parliament. The project will draw on practical knowledge developed during long-term collaboration with Sámi entrepreneurs.