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The ultimate awards for Belgian companies that are shaping the future with sustainable and green solutions for 2030 and beyond.

Organised by Mediafin, editor of

in collaboration with

Why Changemakers Awards?

The transition to a greener economy is under immense pressure: government budgets are strained, citizens and politicians are weary of change, and the competitiveness of companies is being threatened. However, the climate crisis is far from over, on the contrary.

“At De Tijd and L’Echo, we firmly believe that the key to solutions lies in the innovative power of entrepreneurs.”

Peter De Groote Editor-in-chief De Tijd

Paul Gérard Editor-in-chief L’Echo

That’s why we are launching a new edition of Changemakers, in search of the 30 Belgian companies with the strongest solutions to combat the climate crisis. Sustainability champions who also excel in social responsibility. This year, we will place even more emphasis on the social aspect, as we believe that truly sustainable business means not only caring for the planet but also for employees and the local environment.

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Jury

Piet Colruyt

Piet Colruyt

Founder of Impact House
  • Impact Financier
  • In all stages: from seed capital, via social impact funds to listed equity
  • In different areas: from sustainable real estate, via planting trees, promoting plant-based food, renewable energy production, SaaS companies using AI to reduce carbon emission
  • Philanthropic support for system-changing initiatives
  • Lecturer in KUL’s Sustainable Leadership Programme & author of Allemaal Sociaal 3.0
Stephanie Fellen

Stéphanie Fellen

Founder & CEO of Smart2Circle
  • Entrepreneur, economist, TEDx speaker
  • Climate, Circular Economy, and CSR Expert
  • Creator of the Business Impact Podcast, which showcases inspiring personalities who are changing the world through their business
  • Known for concrete actions to make businesses more sustainable
Steven Van Passel

Steven Van Passel

Vice-rector Valorisation & Sustainability, University of Antwerp
  • Professor of Environmental and Energy Economics
  • Expert in climate change (adaptation) economics
  • Member of the Flemish Panel on Climate and Energy
  • Member of the European Scientific Advisory Board of FACCE (Joint Programming Initiative on Agriculture, Food Security, and Climate Change)
  • Two-time recipient of the OECD fellowship (sustainable agriculture and food systems)

Karine Vandenberghe

Sustainability-strategy advisor
  • Author of the bestseller “ESG-gids”
  • Entrepreneur and co-founder of Elpix, a company that guides businesses in formulating and implementing effective sustainability strategies to gain competitive advantages
  • Human rights activist and former chair of Amnesty International
  • Influential speaker, renowned for guiding businesses to strategically embrace sustainability beyond mere cost considerations

Wim Audenaert

Co-founder and CEO of AM-Team
  • Impact entrepreneur, international keynote speaker
  • CEO & Co-founder of AM-Team, a Ghent-based tech business digitally revolutionizing water and wastewater treatment at the global scale
  • PhD in environmental technology with academic track record
  • Founder of sciencepreneurship: a movement around converting science into impactful business
  • Passioned about business development around disruptive ideas – AM-Team won the Changemakers Award 2024 for emerging companies

Amélie Matton

Board member Ecosteryl medical waste treatment and recycling
  • Business engineer with a specialization in environmental solutions
  • Expert in impactful solutions related to health and the environment
  • Recipient of the Bold Woman Award 2022
  • Passionate about entrepreneurship and the positive impact of IT

Julien Pestiaux

Partner at Climact, Board Member of Ackermans & van Haaren and Union Wallonne des Entreprises
  • Entrepreneur facilitating sustainable business transformations at both the company and societal level
  • Supports the development of clear, actionable pathways towards a sustainable, low-carbon society
  • Leads a growing team driving the energy and climate transition at Climact, with a focus on the European deployment of open-source models
  • Driven by a sense of urgency to enhance the sustainability ambitions of companies
Isabel Albers

Isabel Albers

General editor-in-Chief at De Tijd & L’Echo

Jean-Marc Vandoorne

CEO of BioFirst Group (formerly known as Biobest Group)
  • CEO of BioFirst Group, pioneering sustainable biological alternatives to chemical crop protection
  • Led BioFirst Group’s expansion, addressing issues like pesticide residues, resistance, and regulatory challenges
  • Under his leadership, BioFirst Group won two 2024 Changemakers Awards for its environmental impact and innovation
  • Committed to reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture through innovative crop protection and pollination solutions
  • Extensive experience driving sustainable growth in diverse industries

Practical

Visibility
Gain exposure in De Tijd and L’Echo, Belgium’s leading business newspapers, both through featured articles and on the Changemakers website. Winners and top nominees will receive widespread coverage that highlights their achievements, reaching a vast network of professionals, potential clients, and partners.

Recognition & credibility
Stand out as an industry leader in sustainable practices. Winning a Changemakers Award or being among the finalists validates a company’s commitment to sustainability and ESG standards, boosting credibility with clients, investors, and stakeholders.

Networking opportunities
Participate in the prestigious Changemakers Award Show, connecting with fellow sustainability leaders, innovators, and key industry players. This event is an excellent platform for sharing best practices, ideas, and potentially forming partnerships for future ventures.

Customer appeal
As the public’s awareness and preference for sustainable brands increase, being a Changemakers nominee or winner can make a strong impression on eco-conscious customers and differentiate your brand in the market.

Application process
Submit your entry by 19 December 2024, showcasing how your company is a changemaker in line with the ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) rules of the European Union. Your submission should demonstrate how your company or project contributes to a more sustainable future. The cost to participate and submit a dossier is €490, excluding VAT, and can be paid online after submitting your dossier and includes two tickets to the Changemakers Award Show on 25 March 2025.

Nominee selection by University of Antwerp
After the entry period closes, experts from the University of Antwerp will evaluate all submissions. They will select 30 nominees based on a scoring grid that prioritizes key ESG factors.

Evaluation by the jury
The professional jury will then review the 30 nominees using the scoring grid provided by the University of Antwerp, along with other criteria. The jury will narrow the selection to 6 finalists.

Audience Award voting
Subscribers of De Tijd and L’Echo will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite nominee from the top 30 for the Audience Award, allowing the public to influence the outcome.

Pitch to the jury
The 6 finalists will pitch their projects to the jury at the offices of De Tijd and L’Echo on 13 March 2025. After hearing the pitches, reviewing the submitted dossiers, and considering the scoring grid, the jury will select one winner in the “Established Companies” category and one in the “Emerging Companies” category.

Announcement of winners
The winners in all three categories (Established Companies, Emerging Companies, and the Audience Award) will be announced at the live Changemakers Awards event on 25 March 2025.

For more information, visit the Terms and Conditions page.

  1. General
    1. Mediafin NV is a public limited liability company organized and existing under the laws of Belgium, having its office at Havenlaan 86C, box 309, 1000 Brussels (Belgium) and registered with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises under number 0404.800.301 (RLE Brussels, Dutch division) (“Mediafin”).
    2. Mediafin organizes a Changemakers awards competition as part of its annual event “Changemakers” (the “Competition”).
    3. These terms and conditions apply to the Competition. By registering and submitting a Competition entry, the Participant (as defined below) fully accepts and agrees to be bound by these terms.
  2. Participants
    1. The Competition is open to Belgian legal entities with office in Belgium (a “Participant”).
    2. A Competition entry must relate to an “environmentally sustainable” economic activity (as defined by the European Union) and in particular (1) climate change mitigation; (2) climate change adaptation; (3) sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources; (4) transition to a circular economy; (5) pollution prevention or control; and/or (6) protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems. In addition to the environmental impact, the jury will also evaluate the company’s social policies. Aspects such as social responsibility, labour practices, diversity and inclusion, employee well-being, and community engagement will be considered and will contribute to the final scores.
    3. There is a limit of one Competition entry per Participant. Entries on behalf of another company or joint submissions are not allowed.
    4. If Mediafin (for whatever reason) believes that a Participant does not comply with these terms, it may disqualify the Participant. The same applies for abuse, deception, fraud, or bad faith.
    5. The award winners of the last edition of the Competition cannot apply or submit again for this edition of Changemakers.
  3. Entry
    1. Entry process
      1. To participate in the Competition, the Participant must register through www.changemakers.be (the “Website”), answer an online questionnaire, submit a dossier and pay the entry fee before 19 December 2024 23:59 (CET). Any entries received after the closing date will be disregarded.
      2. Mediafin may reject any incomplete, incorrect, or inappropriate submissions. Only valid, complete entries will be considered for evaluation.
      3. During the entry process, the Participant may upload any documents (including, but not limited to, videos, PDF documents, and presentations) it deems necessary. The attachments included in the application will only be seen as additional information and will not be taken into account when evaluating the Participant. The evaluation will be based solely on the information provided in the application form on the Website and, if applicable, on the oral defense in front of the jury.
      4. Once submitted, the Competition entry is final. Participants do not have the right to modify or complete their entry after its submission.
    2. Payment
      1. Each Participant shall pay a non-refundable entry fee of €490 (excluding VAT).
      2. Each submission includes two tickets to the Changemakers awards show, which will take place on 25 March 2025. These tickets allow you to attend the event during which the winners will be announced.
      3. The payment is to be made online after completing the questionnaire and submitting all the required information. An invoice will be available after the payment is completed. Please note that your submission will only be considered once the payment has been successfully processed.
    3. Miscellaneous
      1. The Competition is exclusively in English. All answers and all documents in the dossier should be in English.
      2. More information, including a detailed Competition timeline, can be found on the Website.
      3. For more information or help with a Competition entry, the Participant can contact Mediafin by email (info@changemakers.be).
  4. Winners
    1. Mediafin will categorize the Participants into two groups based on the online questionnaire:
      1. the first category is the category of the “Established Companies” (i.e. legacy companies performing a transformative track towards a visible/measurable impact).
      2. the second category is the category of the “Emerging Companies” (i.e. start- or scale-ups performing a highly promising track towards visible/measurable impact).
    2. For each category, a winner of the Competition will be selected by an independent and objective expert jury. The jury members for the Competition are mentioned on the Website. The jury shall vote by majority.
    3. The Participant’s entry will be evaluated on the basis of the online questionnaire. In selecting the two winners, the jury shall consider, amongst others, the following criteria: innovation, entrepreneurship, measurability, proven impact, scalability, and potential for internationalization and commercialization.
    4. The jury prize winners will be chosen in three phases:
      1. in a first phase, experts from the University of Antwerp will select 30 nominees amongst the Participants (the “30 for 2030”);
      2. in a second phase, the jury will select and invite three nominees from each category to orally defend their submission; and
      3. in a third phase, the jury will select one winner per category.
    5. In addition, the subscribers of De Tijd and L’Echo will also choose one audience winner amongst the 30 nominees. In case of equal votes, the jury will choose the audience winner on the basis of the abovementioned criteria.
    6. The decisions of Mediafin, the experts of the University of Antwerp and the jury are final, binding and non-appealable.
    7. Mediafin will announce the winners during an award show. The date and place of the award show are mentioned on the Website. The winners of the Competition will receive a Changemakers award at this award show.
  5. Participant data
    1. The Participant represents and warrants to Mediafin that the documents and information it uploads during the entry process (the “Participant Data”) do not infringe the intellectual property rights or other legal rights of any person, and will not breach the provisions of any law, statute or regulation, in any jurisdiction and under any applicable law. The Participant is solely liable and responsible for the accuracy and correctness of the Participant Data and shall at all times remain the owner of the Participant Data.
    2. By participating to the Competition, the Participant grants, free of charge to Mediafin and its partners a non-exclusive and irrevocable license to copy, reproduce, store, distribute, publish (e.g. in newspapers, online, on social media), export, adapt, edit and translate the Participant Data in the context of the Changemakers event (organization, promotion).
  6. GDPR
    1. The Participant represents and warrants to Mediafin that it has the legal right to disclose any personal data that it makes available to Mediafin under or in connection with the Competition. Mediafin shall process the Participant’s personal data in accordance with the applicable laws relating to the processing of personal data including, the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (“GDPR”) and the privacy policy made available on the Website.
  7. Liability
    1. Mediafin reserves the right (i) to suspend or to cancel the Competition and (ii) to amend the Competition (e.g. the timeline and/or the composition of the jury) and/or these terms if and to the extent that it becomes reasonably necessary to do so, without any liability (it being understood that in the event of a cancellation of the Competition by Mediafin the entry fees will be refunded).
    2. Mediafin shall not be liable for Competition submissions that are lost, damaged, or delayed, regardless of its cause, or for Competition submissions that are not successfully completed due to an equipment failure, technical malfunction, systems, satellite, network, server, computer hardware, or software failure of any kind.
    3. To the maximum extent permitted by law:
      1. Mediafin shall not, in any circumstances, be liable for any losses or damages arising from the Participant’s registration, submission and/or participation to the Competition except (i) in case of fraud, deceit, deliberate fault or fraudulent misrepresentation on behalf of Mediafin or (ii) in case of personal injury or death caused by its negligence;
      2. In the event that the above liability exclusion would be deemed invalid, Mediafin’s liability shall in any case be limited (i) to direct damages only (excluding any indirect or consequential damages such as (but not limited to) reputational damages, loss of revenue, loss of profits and time and effort invested in the Competition) and (ii) to an amount equal to the entry fee paid by the Participant; and
      3. Without prejudice to the above, Participants cannot bring an extra-contractual claim against Mediafin or an (indirect) auxiliary person of Mediafin (e.g. the jury members) for damages caused in the context of the Competition. Only a contractual claim by the Participant against Mediafin is possible for such damages, if any.
  8. Complaints
    1. Complaints with regard to the Competition must be sent to Mediafin by email to (info@changemakers.be) within seven working days following the award show. Under no circumstances shall verbal complaints or complaints by telephone be accepted. Complaints submitted after the due date shall also not be accepted.
  9. Applicable law and jurisdiction
    1. The Competition and these terms are governed by Belgian law.
    2. Any dispute in relation to the Competition which cannot be settled amicably shall be brought before the competent courts of Brussels, Dutch division.

Timeline

October 28, 2024
Start of award submissions
December 19, 2024
End of award submissions
February 28, 2025
Announcement of 30 nominees (start voting Audience Award)
March 13, 2025
Jury decision day (end voting)
March 25, 2025
Announcement of winners at the Award Show

Memorable moments from Changemakers 2024

Meet the Changemakers: award winners from the previous edition

Discover the inspiring companies that won the 2024 Changemakers Awards.
These trailblazers have set new standards in sustainability, innovation, and impact.

Read about the winning submissions

Submit your entry
Submit your entry