Abstract The paradox of environmental sustainability is often framed as a trade-off between profit and planet. Mainstream sustainability approaches remain constrained by anthropocentric and reductionist assumptions that treat economy and ecology as separable domains. Guided by Kaupapa Māori (Māori approach) principles, this research explores an alternative relational approach grounded in te ao Māori (Māori world view). Drawing on Kōrero (Māori narrative approach) with 11 participants, analysed through reflexive thematic analysis, the paper develops the Whakapapa–Mauri–Utu Regenerative Cycle. In this framework, Whakapapa (genealogy) establishes non-negotiable governance responsibilities, Mauri (life force) serves as an evaluative indicator of ecosystem health, and Utu (reciprocity) reorients economic activity toward restoration and collective wellbeing. This paper contributes to paradox scholarship by demonstrating that sustainability tensions are reframed when organisations are understood as genealogically embedded within spiritual and ecological systems. Rather than being managed through trade-offs between separable objectives, sustainability becomes a relational obligation enacted through genealogical integrity.
Niu et al. (2026) studied this question.