New Zealand is like a world in miniature. Concentrated within its isolated land mass are all the varied features and resources that are found scattered over the earth's surface. It has alpine districts; snow clad and glistening with glaciers, whose melt-off forms numerous and sometimes considerable rivers; table lands and plains, sometimes flat, sometimes undulating with fertile hills; valleys overspread with rich green, and forests of immense trees, all of which combine to form the unique scenery of New Zealand. Our wide range of topography is contained in such a small area that people can move easily from one type of place to another. It is possible to drive from the mountains to the sea in just a few hours. .
New Zealand as a country, people and culture is historically linked to the land (Bell 1996), the traditional areas of work, such as agriculture, fishing and horticulture as well as our leisure activities like mountaineering, tramping, boating and swimming all directly involve the natural environment.
This involvement with the land has become a component of national identity. The sense of shared purpose, pride in place, national success all combine to provide a sense of belonging. As a "nation-, New Zealanders have fought on the battlefield, the sports field, on land, on sea, and have won.
Market changes in recent years have brought about a shrinking of the planet and the formation of a global village. A sense of "nation-, of place and locality is becoming harder to define. Many countries have become melting pots of numerous nationalities, so the assumption that everyone shares one cultural language, heritage, and history is much less likely, now days territory is likely to be the only common ground that a countries inhabitants share.
Culture.
The concept of culture became more prominent during the early 1980's and is defined by Schein (1991) as "involving a group of people who have a history together, who have shared experiences together, with a stable enough membership to allow some common learning to occur-.
