AGM

All about the ASCE Annual General Meeting and an overview of past meetings, their location and topics.

AGM 2026

This year’s AGM and Conference was held earlier than usual, from 18 to 20 June 2026 in Turin, Italy. The conference, themed “Life Lessons: Cemeteries as Educational Heritage”, explored how cemeteries serve as vital heritage sites for education, encouraging reflection on how we preserve, interpret, and transmit knowledge across generations. All details and highlights about the event can be found at this LINK.

About the AGM and Conference

Each year, the Annual General Meeting attracts over 100 cemetery academics, artists and professionals from all over Europe. It generates a lot of public attention and through the conference helps expose important topics on cemetery's history, art, architecture, cultural heritage, sustainability, management, and future trends. This main ASCE event is held at the end of September and consist of three segments:

• Annual General Meeting of members, where most important projects and activities of ASCE are presented, along with financial and administrative reports.
• Conference which consists of presentations over themed subjects arranged by the editorial board.
• Cultural program and guided tour of a significant cemetery where participants can discover the particulary important monuments, events or stories that shaped the cultural heritage of town, city and Europe.

AGM history

Every time, AGM takes place in a different European city and addresses a different topic. Below you can find an overview of all the past Annual General Meetings from 2001 to today.

Annual General Meeting 2026

Turin, Italy (18–20 June 2026)

Conference theme: Life Lessons: Cemeteries as Educational Heritage

Annual General Meeting 2025

Dresden, Germany (4–6 September 2025)

Conference theme: Future Through Remembrance

Annual General Meeting 2024

Budapest, Hungary (19–21 September 2024)

Conference theme: Cemeteries as Cultural Spaces of European Remembrance

Annual General Meeting 2023

Mantua, Italy (21–23 September 2023)

Conference theme: Cemeteries of the Future

Annual General Meeting 2022

Belgrade, Serbia (15–17 September 2022)

Conference theme: Cemeteries for Everybody

Annual General Meeting 2021

Budapest, Hungary (16–18 September 2021)

Conference theme: Cemetourism: Cemeteries with Stories to Tell (held online on 11–12 November 2021)

Annual General Meeting 2020

Vienna, Austria (7 October 2020)

Online meeting with live broadcasting

Annual General Meeting 2019

Ghent, Belgium (3–5 October 2019)

Conference theme: Shared Use and Reuse of Cemeteries

Annual General Meeting 2018

Innsbruck, Austria (20–22 September 2018)

Conference theme: European Cemeteries in the European Year of Cultural Heritage

Annual General Meeting 2017

Athens, Greece (5–7 October 2017)

Conference theme: Ancient Greek Art and European Funerary Art

Annual General Meeting 2016

Dublin, Ireland (6–8 October 2016)

Conference theme: Conflict, Memorialization = Reconciliation

Annual General Meeting 2015

Bucharest, Romania (24–26 September 2015)

Conference theme: Foreigners in Significant Cemeteries

Annual General Meeting 2014

Barcelona, Spain (2–4 October 2014)

Conference theme: Beyond the Death: Remembrance, Memory and Heritage

Annual General Meeting 2013

Amsterdam, Netherlands (19–21 September 2013)

Conference theme: Gardens, Forests, Cities. European Cemeteries as Cultural Landscape

Annual General Meeting 2012

Maribor, Slovenia (13–15 September 2012)

Conference theme: Promotion of Cemeteries and Their Surrounding Territories

Annual General Meeting 2011

Vienna, Austria (22–24 September 2011)

Conference theme: Modern Influences on Significant Cemeteries

Annual General Meeting 2010

Cagliari, Italy (16–18 September 2010)

Conference theme: Cataloguing, Preservation, Maintenance and Restoration of Cemeteries

Annual General Meeting 2009

Granada, Spain (1–3 October 2009)

Conference theme: Cemetery, Tourism and Culture

Annual General Meeting 2008

Birkenhead, United Kingdom (18–20 September 2008)

Conference theme: The Role of Volunteers in Cemetery Care and Management

Annual General Meeting 2007

Stavanger and Sandnes, Norway (20–22 September 2007)

Conference theme: The Significance of Cemeteries in Society

Annual General Meeting 2006

Verona, Italy (28–30 September 2006)

Conference theme: The Importance of the History of 19th and 20th Century European Funerary Sculpture

Annual General Meeting 2005

Berlin, Germany (22–24 September 2005)

Conference theme: The Future of the Cemetery in Cities

Annual General Meeting 2004

Genoa, Italy (23–25 September 2004)

Conference theme: Memory and Future in the Architecture of European Cemeteries

Annual General Meeting 2003

Barcelona, Spain (16–19 October 2003)

Conference theme: not documented

Annual General Meeting 2002

Vilnius, Lithuania (17–19 October 2002)

Conference theme: European Cemeteries, History, Research and Restoration

Annual General Meeting 2001

Bologna, Italy (10 November 2001)

The first AGM: formal establishment of ASCE and election of ASCE first president

How our AGM’s have evolved

A personal retrospective on the past Annual General Meetings and their evolution over the years.

To celebrate ASCE 20th anniversary, I thought it would be nice to look back at all our past AGM’s. Also, I hope to make you aware of the key personalities in our history.

ASCE has done a great deal more than host AGM’s. This perspective will allow us a look back at how we have grown into the organisation we are today. An association which has adapted to meet the needs of our members and the increased threats to cemetery heritage.

AGM 2001: Bologna, Italy

In 2001 our founder and first president, Mauro Felicori was a manager at Bologna Certosa when he had the idea of a European wide “club” of cemeteries, as he called it.

From the beginning he felt it was important that the club should meet once a year at the end of the summer. On the 10th November 2001 the first AGM took place in Bologna, attended by around 30 delegates from 8 countries. It took place over a single day and there were no presentations. Understandably the time was taken up formulating a governing document and electing a steering group and president. That governing document stated the following aims;

1. To encourage experience and best practice.
2. To work together on common projects.
3. To awaken the national and European Institutions on the importance of cemeteries in the European heritage.
4. To encourage the attention of the Universities.
5. To promote the necessary legal innovations.
6. To draw attention to the media and tourist publishing.
7. To use new technologies more and better.

Our aims have remained much the same to this day, although there is now a greater emphasis on the care and protection of cemeteries.

The first AGM closed with a tour of the Certosa Monumental Cemetery and the element of a cemetery tour has continued to this day. Key figures at that first AGM were Anders Norsell from Stockholm, who was to take an increasing role in the management of ASCE in the coming years. Maria Luisa Yzaguirre made her first appearance and she would go onto to become our president in 2007. The most important figure and very much the initial guiding light for ASCE was Mauro Felicori, who was elected as our first president.

AGM 2002: Vilnius, Lithuania

In 2002 Vilnius in Lithuania hosted the second AGM and around 30 delegates attended. Presentations were given to the delegates on the theme of, “European Cemeteries, History, Research and Restoration”. The focus was very much on the academic and this reflected the importance that Mauro Felicori attached to establishing our association as a valid academic body, with peer review of papers presented.

AGM 2003: Barcelona, Spain

In 2003 ASCE went to Barcelona, courtesy of Jordi Valmaña, general manager of CBSA, the managing company for Barcelona cemeteries. Jordi’s keen support and the backing of CBSA has been invaluable to ASCE. However, records of this AGM are thin and sadly even the theme was not recorded. We do know that the number of delegates attending had increased to around 45.

AGM 2004: Genoa, Italy

In 2004 ASCE returned to Italy and Genoa Commune hosted the AGM with incredible generosity. One of the venues was also used by the G8 summit! Attendance had increased to over 50 delegates with 16 countries represented. It was my first AGM and I remember sitting in awe of the baroque decor. To match the surroundings the programme was ambitious and for the first time extended to three days.

Thursday was a half day formal AGM and on the Friday the programme started at 8.30 in the morning and finished at 18.30 with 19 speakers, no less! Fifteen of the presentations were academic, although four were pragmatic including one entitled, “The scanning of sculpture using laser techniques”. Amongst the speakers was Prof. Javier Rodríguez Barberán from Seville, who would later serve on our scientific committee for some years. Also present for the first time was Martin Ernerth from Berlin, who serves on the steering group today.

On the third day was a half day tour of the magnificent Staglieno cemetery. Another enhancement was the introduction of a gala dinner on Friday. At Genoa it was suitably ambitious and was held on a roof top overlooked by a flood lit medieval tower. A lot of the presentations were not in English and the hosts introduced translation services for the first time. Not put off in the least by the staggering standards set by Genoa, Martin Ernerth offered to host the next AGM.

AGM 2005: Berlin, Germany

In 2005 the Berlin AGM was significant as it was hosted by volunteers who represented the significant churchyards and cemeteries of Berlin. Also supporting the event were the Friends of Stahnsdorf, managed by Olaf Ihlefeldt, who is still part of the management of ASCE today. The event included a visit to the very rural Stahnsdhorf cemetery where Friedrich Alfred Krupp’s grave was the biggest I have ever seen, half an acre no less!

An election of officers took place and Mauro Felicori was re-elected president. For the first time a steering group was also elected. The programme was for the first time largely pragmatic with presentations looking at the differing cemetery cases of each country.

For the first time there was a workshop to take conclusions forward. Also it was the first attendance of Gunnar Wik from Bergen, Norway, who provided firm guidance on the steering group for a number of years. Finally, for the first time a printed record of the largely pragmatic presentations was made. Possibly this was prompted by the first attendance of Julie Rugg, the English academic who would take a position on the scientific committee. Also attending for the first time was our current president Lidija Pliberšek.

 

AGM 2006: Verona, Italy

In 2006 ASCE returned to Italy to Verona and despite the attractive venue only 59 delegates attended. However, the AGM had 34 speakers! To this day that is the most packed programme we have had and in order for it to happen the programme extended to the whole of Thursday as it does to this day. Verona also marked the high tide of academic presentations as all but one was academic with titles such as, “Metamorphism and the maiden in Liberty funeral sculpture”.

At the programme finish time the speakers were still going strong but not so the translators who walked out at 18.30, complaining: “Too many speaks”. Gunnar Wik then started the "English only" argument which was to eventually win out. Despite my nationality I think that is a little sad, as each language has its own beauty and added to the atmosphere of the AGM’s.

AGM 2007: Stavanger and Sandnes, Norway

In 2007 we headed north to Stavanger in Norway and it became clear which way the wind blew for the Scandinavian countries with almost a complete turnaround in the programme content. As we looked at the problems of cemetery management and emerging trends, the speakers were not academics but landscape architects and cemetery managers. The AGM saw a further expansion as it ran to the end of Saturday for the first time and most AGM’s that followed have run all of Thursday, Friday and Saturday. 

An election was held, Mauro Felicori’s six years as president came to an end and he was replaced by Maria Luisa Yzaguirre from Barcelona. There were only 14 presentations as the organisers took us to several cemeteries and as we travelled, we seemed to be either on a bridge or in a tunnel in this mountainous coastal country.

 

AGM 2008: Birkenhead, England

No traveling for me in 2008 when the Friends of Flaybrick hosted the AGM at Birkenhead with the cooperation of Wirral Borough Council. A factor in the success of an AGM is whether it is easy to access. In our case, we were very much off centre in Europe. Never the less we succeeded in getting 98 delegates from 16 countries. 

I decided to go after the speakers. I wanted to produce an AGM which was devoted to the role of volunteers in the care and restoration of cemeteries. I also had responsibility for catering were knowing your numbers is key to reducing costs. The day before the conference started, I met Maria Luisa Yzaguirre and drove her around the key locations. On the way we passed the railway station in Liverpool and I was horrified to see three delegates from one of the Balkan countries who had made no attempt whatsoever to register!

Andreea Pop has said that a consideration of a successful conference is whether it gives lasting benefits to the host. Well in our case it certainly did as the standards of grounds maintenance were raised dramatically prior to the AGM and have remained so ever since.

AGM 2009: Granada, Spain

In 2009, 99 delegates from 15 countries enjoyed the splendour of the AGM in Granada. The delegates where given presentations on cemetery tourism and culture. Amongst the speakers were Ian Hussein, Director of the Commonwealth grave Commission, Northern Europe. We also had Pascal-Hervé Daniel, Director of Paris Cemeteries, who made clear that he did not want any more tourists at Père Lachaise Cemetery, adding that he had 16 requests to film in 2008 in the previous 12 months. Interestingly, he had just introduced laser beam alarm systems for key memorials. Daniel served on our steering group for a number of years and I remember sitting next to him when an expected important dignitary walked in, Daniel said, “Ah, la grand fromage.” Since Daniel left our association, Lidija Pliberšek has worked constantly to bring Père Lachaise back into ASCE.

I clearly remember the gala dinner, our tables ringed an open courtyard with two guitarists in the middle playing the Rodriguez guitar concerto. Above us the walls of the Alhambra were lit up by a full moon - really magical. If that was not enough, the following evening we enjoyed a nocturnal tour of the Alhambra and its splendid gardens.

 

AGM 2010: Cagliari, Italy

In 2010 we returned to Italy on the island of Sardinia and its capital Cagliari. Attendance set a new record with 137 delegates from 17 countries. However not all the delegates were inside listening to presentations. The Scandinavians had suffered terrible weather that year and spent a lot of time on the terrace soaking up the sun which they had hardly seen that year. They had an added bonus as the touristic element of the programme included a tour of the beaches!

Presentations were 100% pragmatic including a presentation from Žale on new cemetery software. Delegates were also introduced to Augmented Reality, which would play a part in the future of mobile cemetery guides, such as Artour. Another key aspect was that three hours were devoted to the launch of the European Cemetery Route project.

AGM 2011: Vienna, Austria

The 2011 saw us in Vienna at an AGM focused on the Central Cemetery, the staggeringly large main cemetery of Vienna. This year saw another election and we said goodbye to Maria Luisa Yzaguirre. She withdrew completely from ASCE but had for some time given guidance and advice to Lidija Pliberšek who was elected as our new president. A total of 115 delegates from 16 countries heard 14 presentations equally balanced between academic and pragmatic with the delegates able to hear them in German and Spanish as well as English.

AGM 2012: Maribor, Slovenia

In 2012, AGM was held in Maribor, Slovenia and despite the fine location only 60 delegates attended. One of the missing delegates was myself, so I am afraid my record of the event is not good. However, I can tell you that the programme was largely pragmatic and for the first time Dušan Vrban spoke to the AGM about the technical possibilities for the future.

 

AGM 2013: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2013 saw us in Amsterdam, thanks to the generous support of the Facultatieve Company, long -time supporters of ASCE. The programme examined current changes in the cemetery environment with Dr. Julie Rugg speaking on the changing landscape of death and Wim van Midwoud looking at the need for harmony between cremation and burials.

 

AGM 2014: Barcelona, Spain

In 2014 ASCE returned to Barcelona and our most successful AGM ever with 150 delegates attending. A mix of cemetery managers and academics examined the themes of, "Remembrance, memory and heritage". The delegates enjoyed the unique atmosphere of a night time tour of Poblenou Cemetery accompanied by live classical music.

 

AGM 2015: Bucharest, Romania

In 2015 we went further east than ever before in the city of Bucharest. The AGM was close to not taking place due to considerable political changes and it was only thanks to the efforts of Andreea Pop that we were able to enjoy the entirely pragmatic AGM without disruption. The theme was, “Foreigners in Significant Cemeteries” so it was particularly appropriate to hear a presentation from Julia Bolton Holloway (born in London), resplendent in her nuns habit, speaking on the Non Catholic Cemetery of Florence which she manages.

 

AGM 2016: Dublin, Ireland

I was closely involved in the organisation of the speakers programme for the AGM 2016, hosted by the Glasnevin Cemetery Trust. That year marked the centenary of the Easter Uprising and I proposed a theme of “Conflict, Interpretation, Memorialisation = Reconciliation”. George McCullough and Mervyn Colville, the trust managers, bravely took on this theme.

The AGM was largely academic and succeeded in achieving balance in the face of political sensitivities, as the Trust always has done at Glasnevin. Attendance was good and significantly one of the delegates was Richard Moylan, president of the Green-Wood Cemetery in New York. For the first time there was significant commercial input towards the costs of the event with a partnership with the Eco Legacy company.

AGM 2017: Athens, Greece

In 2017, ASCE went to Greece for the first time for an AGM in Athens. Sadly, this was another miss for me but the delegates enjoyed a strongly academic programme with the appropriate theme of “Ancient Greek Art and European Funerary Art”. The lead organiser for the event was Professor Evangelia Georgitsoyanni who worked hard to ensure that for the first time the presentations were published in a printed document.

 

AGM 2018: Innsbruck, Austria

In 2018 ASCE returned to Austria in the city of Innsbruck. The programme was largely academic but there was a presentation, “Adding Value to Cemeteries with Mapping”, achieved with 360 degree videoing. There were 23 speakers but Alexander Legniti made sure that the programme ran to time by installing traffic lights in front of the speakers!

 

AGM 2019: Ghent, Belgium

For the first time Belgium hosted the AGM in the city of Ghent in 2019. A very strong partnership of no less than 8 organisation including ASCE and three years of planning resulted in our most successful AGM ever with 163 delegates from 19 countries attending. It was also the longest, with the event having commencing at 4pm on the Wednesday and finishing on Saturday afternoon. Also, a new development was the inclusion of post conference drinks on the Friday night.

Delegates heard presentations on the theme of, “Heritage cemeteries in the 21st century, Use, Reuse and Shared Use”. For the first time our AGM was enhanced with poster sessions with a total of 20 on display.

We visited Laeken Cemetery, with its stunning backdrop and for the first time visited a cemetery sculptor’s workshop. At St. Amandsberg Cemetery we were able to see restorers at work using epoxy resins to fix shattered stones. We also learned how the coast of restoration was met by sponsorship.

 

AGM 2020: Vienna, Austria

Sadly, after this triumph in 2019, in 2020 our AGM was all but wiped out by Covid and reduced to just a short formal AGM held online, hosted by Vienna.

AGM and Conference 2021

We are now about to come to a full 20 year circle with a dynamic return from Covid and a triple pronged resurgence! For those of you who are able to travel, an AGM will take place for the first time in Hungary on the 16th to the 18th September thanks to our new partners, The National Heritage Institute in Budapest. Delegates will be able to experience the full splendours of this historic city thanks to a cemetery, museum and touristic programme. They will also be able to participate in the process of the formal AGM and enjoy a gala dinner whilst cruising the Danube. For those not able to make it to Budapest there will be the possibility of participating online.

Finally, an online Conference will be hosted by Highgate on the 11th and 12th of November. The theme will be, “Cemetourism – cemeteries with a story to tell”. As I sit on the editorial board, I can assure you that the speakers will be wide ranging and pragmatic, aiming to help you to enhance your cemetery visitor experience.

John Moffat
UK Steering Group member

You can access the original article HERE.

AGM 2018 report

On September 20th, the Annual General Meeting took place at city hall Innsbruck.

Over 100 participants from 18 countries joined a splendidly organised meeting and conference. Thoughtful presentations and sparking debates revealed new ideas and possibilities for developments of our cultural heritage.

AGM was preceeded by Mrs Lidija Pliberšek, president of ASCE and all steering committee members were present or gave proxy to other members. During the AGM several things were outlined and discussed:

1. Steering Committee work

New Steering Committee member, Mrs Renate Niklas from Vienna was presented and confirmed by members. Steering Committee work was presented by Mrs Wenche Eriksson. Members remarks were taken into account and decisions from steering committee meeting in March were presented.

2. Financial report for 2017

A well balanced finances statement provides secure future for general work of ASCE. Mrs Lidija Pliberšek presented the surplus achieved that is invested into future work of ASCE.

3. ASCE promotion materials

ASCE promotion materials and communications were presented by Mrs Renate Niklas and Mrs Carol Diaz Ortega. New marketing materials were presented. Explanation on existing materials with best usage practice. /p>

4. Cooperation of ASCE with other institutions

Mrs Melissa La Maida presented the cooperation of ASCE with other institutions like European institute of Cultural routes, SEFIT or other initiatives that are undergoing in our Association. Mr Martin Ernerth highlighted a few specific cases of the developing cooperation and presentations of ASCE in various conferences and places.

5. Good practices

Mr Thodoris Tzoumas presented the case of Skiathos as a very active member with many notable results. It was agreed that such good practice presentations will be part of each future AGM.

6. New members and significant cemeteries

New members of ASCE, European Cemeteries route and new significant cemeteries were presented by president Mrs Lidija Pliberšek.

7. Cemeteries entries project

Project Cemeteries entries is developing and Mr Thodoris Tzoumas presented the current situation while encouraging the members who did not do it yet to proceed with installation of the insignia in their cemeteries.

8. Scientific Representative report

Scientific Representative report was presented by Andreea Pop, highlighting the editorial work for AGM and developments of new European Cemeteries Route brochure which is available for members to print. Future focus will be on developments of online and offline cooperation among scientists covering the subject of European cemeteries.

9. Call for AGM hosting

Mr John Moffat presented the Guidelines and benefits for AGM hosting and a call for AGM hosting in 2021 and 2022.

10. European Cemeteries Route overview

Mr Dušan Vrban as the manager of the route presented the renewed strategy of European Cemeteries Route, projects and ideas for further developments. Importance of stories was highlighted through project proposal MyStöries. Mrs Bojana Kisin presented a case of working with children at cemeteries. In 2019 a bus tour is planned and members will be invited to propose hosting of a tour.

11. Invitation to AGM 2019

AGM ended with an invitation to AGM 2019 in Ghent by Mr Joeri Mertens.

12. Photo gallery

Photos from the AGM and conference are available at following albums:

• official photographer, Sandra Blaunstein
• ASCE photos
• glimpses by participants

AGM 2019 report

On October 3rd, the Annual General Meeting took place at Provinciaal Administratief Centrum 'Het Zuid' in Ghent.

Over 150 participants from 19 countries joined a splendidly organised meeting and conference. Thoughtful presentations and sparking debates revealed the possibilities and issues in shared use and reuse of cemeteries.

AGM was preceeded by Mrs Lidija Pliberšek, president of ASCE and all steering committee members were present or gave proxy to other members. During the AGM several things were outlined and discussed:

1. Elections of new steering committee and presidency took place. Among candidates, members voted for following:

• Lidija Pliberšek, Maribor, Slovenia (president)
• Renate Niklas, Vienna, Austria (SC member)
• Martin Ernerth, Berlin, Germany (SC member)
• Thodoris Tzoumas, Skiathos, Greece (SC member)
• Melissa Lamaida, Bologna, Italy (SC member)
• Andreea Pop, Bucharest, Romania (SC member)
• Miquel Trepat Celis, Barcelona, Spain (SC member)
• John Moffat, Liverpool, United Kingdom (SC member)

Newly elected president Lidija Pliberšek nominated new delegated representatives:

• Ian Dungavell, London, United Kingdom
• Olaf Ihlefeldt, Berlin, Germany

2. Steering Committee and presidency work in the past 4 years was presented by Mrs Lidija Pliberšek.

3. Financial report for 2018. A well balanced finances statement provides secure future for general work of ASCE. Mrs Lidija Pliberšek presented the surplus achieved that is invested into future work of ASCE.

4. New members of ASCE, European Cemeteries route and new significant cemeteries were presented and provided certificates of membership.

5. Scientific Representative report was presented by Andreea Pop, highlighting the editorial work for AGM and future ideas on improving scientific work.

6. List of hosts for AGM 2020-22 was presented. Host of AGM 2020 (Milano) invited participants to the next year's event.

7. Mr Dušan Vrban as the manager of the European Cemeteries Route presented the ideas for further developments. One of the most important projects is the first ever European Cemeteries Tour that will take place in Croatia in May 2020.

8. An overview of other important projects that are taking place at ASCE and Route were presented by Mr Dušan Vrban. Among many projects that take place at ASCE, WDEC, Schools on cemeteries, Symbols and Stories were emphasised.

9. Special report was prepared by our host, city of Ghent with complete overview of the conference.

Photos from the AGM and conference are available at this album.

AGM 2019: Save the date

We are getting ready for Ghent.

AGM 2019: Sign up

Sign up form opened for Annual General Meeting and Conference 2019, taking place in Ghent, Belgium from 3-5 October 2019.

AGM 2019 will take place at Meeting Center of the Province of East-Flanders. Registration form is now opened at

Ghent tickets sales website.

Please note that:

• ASCE members pay 25€ for participation at whole conference (all days)
• non members pay 25€ per day
• there are different forms for ASCE members and other participants.

After your registration you will receive a welcome email with additional information from the organizer where you can provide any special request.

AGM 2019: program

Program of the Annual General Meeting and Conference 2019, taking place in Ghent, Belgium from 3-5 October 2019.

AGM 2019 will take place at Meeting Center of the Province of East-Flanders. You can currently check the complete program at the Stad Gent dedicated website.


Programme presented is a draft version and organisers hold the right to further modifications..

You can click on this link (iCal) to add the programme to your personal calendar.


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AGM 2019: Accommodation in Ghent

Accommodation options for Annual General Meeting and Conference 2019, taking place in Ghent, Belgium from 3-5 October 2019.

The three hotels below have rooms available for participants of the ASCE Conference. We kindly ask you to make your own reservation.

NH Hotel Gent Belfort

Hoogpoort 63, 9000 Gent
Reservation is possible via the website link until September 10, 2019.

Ibis Gent Kathedraal

Limburgstraat 2, 9000 Gent
Reservation is possible until August 22, 2019 on the e-mail H0961-re@accor.com with the subject "ASCE2019 - Sveinhildur Torfadottir".

Novotel Gent Centrum

Goudenleeuwplein 5, 9000 Gent
Reservation is possible until September 2, 2019 on the e-mail H0840-RE@accor.com with the subject "ASCE2019".

For other accommodation options check out the website visit.gent.be/en/overnight-stay.

Elections candidates 2019

We present you the list of candidates for president and Steering Committee 2019.

According to ASCE charter and calls for candidates we have prepared the list of candidates for Steering Committee and president.

Elections will take place at AGM 2019 in Ghent at 09:00.

You can see the candidates on the embed map below by clicking on their icons or in the following list. Please note that each member has a presentation in the link attached to their name.

List is presented by alphabetical order by countries and within country by name.

Country	Town	Name	Candidate for
Austria	Vienna	Renate Niklas	SC member
Germany	Berlin	Martin Ernerth	SC member
Germany	Berlin	Olaf Ihlefeldt	SC member
Greece	Skiathos	Thodoris Tzoumas	SC member
Italy	Bologna	Melissa Lamaida	SC member
Romania	Bucharest	Andreea Pop	SC member
Slovenia	Maribor	Lidija Pliberšek	President
Spain	Barcelona	Miquel Trepat Celis	SC member
United Kingdom	Liverpool	John Moffat	SC member
United Kingdom	London	Ian Dungavell	SC member

An ASCE conference is only a start

From the discovery of the Flemish and Brussels funerary heritage to the publication of a book and the development of a card game for children.

The AGM and Conference 2019

The City of Ghent (Belgium) hosted in 2019 the ASCE Annual General Meeting & Conference. Although the presentations, the conversations between the participants and the discovery of the Flemish and Brussels funerary heritage were the main objectives of the organising committee, some two years later the return is much bigger than four wonderful and intense days.

International friendships were made and are maintained. A like on Facebook or Instagram, the sharing of fascinating posts, photos of each other's work and shared interests inspire us in our daily work, bind us internationally together and make us long for a return visit.

But there is more.

The Ghent ASCE AGM & Conference has also meant a lot for Flanders itself. People, organisations and cities who worked together on the conference got to know each other better and learned about each other’s work. We know better now who to contact with questions, ideas and concerns. An e-mail is quicker send and a phone call is easier made. Experiences are shared and more inventive solutions are implemented.

Publication of a book

Those contacts resulted this spring in a book that is pioneering for Flanders and fills a void: Memento Mori, In dialoog met de begraafplaats (Memento Mori: in dialogue with the cemetery). The book is based on the same ideas as the conference: use, shared use and re-use. But it goes further than that and looks at the design of the cemetery as a place for mourning, evolutions through time and the handling of our heritage as an obvious task for the cemetery manager. It has become a book about the place of the (historical) cemetery in our modern society. The cemetery as a space for the bereaved, the local resident and the visitor. The place to deal consciously with death, burial, last wishes, farewells and memories.

Without the ASCE conference, this book might never have become a reality. Initiators of the book are Lieve Destoop of the City of Ghent and Tamara Ingels of Intro Cultuur en Media / Grafzerkje. Several of the authors were speakers at the ASCE conference such as Nandy Dolman, Marc De Bie, Maarten Herbots and Hendrik de Bouvre or hosted a chair such as Joeri Mertens. The book was presented on the occasion of the opening of the 2021 Week of Discovering European Cemeteries (WDEC) in Flanders and Brussels.

It does not stop there. 

Activities during WDEC 

The Corona pandemic has taught us all to organise a variety of activities during the WDEC instead of the classical guided visits. Self-guided walks in small groups, family activities, a special attention towards children and online lectures became increasingly popular.

The city of Ghent, together with Intro Cultuur en Media, has therefor developed a card game for children called Speurneuzen (detectives). It's a game that allows parent and children to talk about death, burial and heritage in an active yet playful and fun way. The project is not site-specific and can be used at any cemetery. The Dutch cards can be downloaded and there even is a nice little box to fit the cards in. You can make the box yourself and it’s great fun to colour and decorate it together with the kids.

On the last Sunday morning of WDEC, Marc De Bie presented the aperitif lecture The origins of burial and family: a prehistoric perspective. From behind their screens, he took visitors on a journey to Belgian prehistory and the story of life, family and death in our distant past.

The impact of AGM & Conference

To say that the ASCE AGM & Conference 2019 has put funerary heritage on the Flemish map is perhaps an exaggeration, but it has certainly given it a boost and brought people and ideas together.

Altogether we now reflect, think and write even more passionately about the values of our common funerary heritage resting in our cemeteries.

Joeri Mertens
Heritage Flanders

You can access the original article HERE.