Death Care: Building the Framework for a Sustainable Funeral Industry in a Superdiverse Society

Recent events such as the Covid19-pandemic and controversy around Muslim cemeteries have revealed the important and increasingly complicated task of the funeral sector in Belgium. The funeral sector is a relatively small yet important societal sector where every member of society at one point or another passes through. Major societal changes (like climate change induced catastrophes, growing cultural diversity, secularisation) affect the decisions and

services that funeral undertakers have to take and provide, and reveal the shortcomings in education, in deontological codes, and in legal frameworks. The diversification of funeral preferencescombined with heightened awareness of the vulnerability of the sector during public health catastrophes leads to a sense of urgency in the funeral sector (in Belgium). This proposal identifies four sources of challenges:

sociological changes, environmental concerns, public health crises and juridical gaps. With a comprehensive, interactive and multi-disciplinary approach the proposal aims to contribute to the

professionalisation of the funeral sector through a more accurate juridical framework, policy protocols for future pandemics, the design of an ethical committee for the sector, the juridical and sociological accommodation of funeral needs of minorities (with a special

focus on the Muslim community which is an important minority in Belgium), a collective ethical reflection on the environmental impact of our funeral choices, an action plan to making the funeral

industry conform with climate neutral European regulation and a

transferral of gained insights through education modules (tailored at the funeral industry) and a podcast (on the ethics of funeral practices in a superdiverse sustainable society) and a broadcast (on changing funeral preferences and societal problems) on national newssite +radio (for the wide audience).