Tessenderlo (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Tessenderlo and Houthalen-Helchteren launched cemetery greening projects. IOED Lage Kempen and Dirk Bouve oversaw planting areas with religious plants, improving accessibility, visitor spaces, and overall cemetery maintenance.
As VRT News reported, Tessenderlo, in the province of Limburg, Belgium, is hosting the IOED Lage Kempen Funeral Heritage Inspiration Day to discuss greening cemeteries and preserving valuable graves. The event takes place at the historic St. Martin’s Church and the old cemetery at Kolmenveld.
Experts and officials are looking at ways to maintain cultural and historical value while updating cemeteries for modern use. The topics include archaeological excavations, greening churchyards, and using cemeteries as educational spaces.
What steps are being taken to green Tessenderlo cemeteries and preserve heritage?
Niels Stoffels of the Intermunicipal Immovable Heritage Service (IOED), Lage Kempen, said,
“It’s a current issue where cemeteries are becoming more like parks. Municipalities are still grappling with how to manage this transition.”
Houthalen-Helchteren has started a pilot project around the historic church of Laak to improve the old cemetery nearby.
“Around the church lies an old cemetery. We have developed a greening scheme there together with the Regional Landscape,”
a project representative said. Several planting areas have been added between the graves. The plants include species with religious significance, such as periwinkle.
Several cities and municipalities are working on similar projects. In Beringen-Mijn cemetery, a small open-air museum will be set up in the former mortuary.
“We have been working on the inventory of our cemeteries for some time now,”
said Dirk Bouve, heritage coordinator for the City of Beringen. Participants also visited the old cemetery in Tessenderlo to study greening methods and preservation techniques.
The cemetery around the historic church of Laak in Houthalen-Helchteren has been an important site for the local community for decades. In 2024, the municipality launched a pilot project in cooperation with the Regional Landscape and IOED Lage Kempen to restore and green the cemetery.
