About Waves of Change

We are a Non-Profit Organization established in Biarritz, France since 2019 with a general interest mission to serve the common good.

Waves of Change is a multi-stakeholder facility and platform for making coastal cities and their ecosystems future proof. 

Filling a necessary but vacant role, we initiate and accompany public-private projects with partner cities, startups, companies, finance institutions and research institutes to make them fundable, duplicable and impactful on 5 continents. 

Examples of project consortiums created include: 

• A monitoring system for marine pollution control and bioremediation, enabling the impact of nature-based solutions to be quantified and duplicated with the help of a research institute based in France and a start-up based in Singapore; 

• A task force that has enabled the electrification of quayside logistics in a leading European port, at lower cost and in shorter time. 

• A multi-stakeholder network for the collection and recycling of plastic waste in the global South, enabling the clean-up of pollution, the creation of economic activity and the empowerment of local populations.

• A coalition that has co-developed a low-cost solution for the supply of drinking and industrial water to coastal regions and their ecotourism and industrial sectors, in the face of water stress and uncertainty, while also reducing plastic bottled water consumption. 

• A multi-stakeholder science-based platform inspiring action and building capacity to empower investors to fund a regenerative and sustainable blue economy: showcasing practical case studies and stories of ocean pioneers, connecting investors and project developers, and mapping global finance flows into the blue economy.

The next Waves of Change Forum, where our coalition stakeholders gather every year to share their milestones, results and challenges, will take place from June 1-3, 2026 in Biarritz, France.

Different because…

Our approach is collective, collaborative, multidisciplinary, cross-industries and inclusive while selective.
It can be applied to any challenge related to sustainability, resilience and environmental transition.
Our coalition is based on trust, humility, collective intelligence, ecosystems and organizational biomimicry.

About our Mission

Adapting together requires a new collaborative approach within and outside organizations.
Our mission is to make coastal cities future proof. We provide a safe and fertile space for ecosystemic, shared value creation* among like-minded stakeholders of the environmental transition both locally and internationally.
This implies a new collaborative mindset to be introduced, understood and practiced among all of them. With Waves of Change we aim to offer a unique opportunity for Basque and international startups, corporations, NGOs, investors, universities, and public sector organizations to spend productive and serene time together as a fertile ground for long-term collaboration. 

* Creating Shared Value - Porter & Kramer

Our defining values are:

• Collaboration rather than competition

• Relevance versus scale

• Action before communication

• Bridging local and global initiatives

• Planet and People first

About our vision

Our mid-term vision is to create a coalition of like-minded stakeholders locally in the Biarritz area as well as globally thanks to our international ambassadors in selected geographical areas, our territorial labs, that can learn from each other and co-develop solutions to shared environmental challenges.

Waves of Change attracts professionals and organizations from all over the world. Our participants speak different languages and bring unique competencies to the table. They all have one goal in common: developing sustainable solutions to make coastal cities future proof, while respecting and preserving natural resources and the biosphere.

We look forward to joining forces!