El Papiol (Barcelona), June 9, 2021 – The Regional Cemetery of Roques Blanques has been honored at the EMAS Catalunya 2021 Awards for its environmental commitment. The cemetery received the award in the category of “Best Stakeholder Engagement Action” for its Educational Beekeeping Project.
Teresa Jordà, the Minister of Climate Action, Food, and Rural Agenda of the Government of Catalonia, welcomed attendees at the virtual awards ceremony, which recognizes the best actions carried out by organizations with EMAS certification. The awards aim to stimulate improvements in the environmental management system and provide an opportunity to innovate communication and interaction with various stakeholders.
In this context, Àltima, the company managing Roques Blanques Cemetery through GIC de Nomber, collaborated with several companies and organizations to realize the award-winning beekeeping project. Partners included the Collserola Natural Park Consortium, Melvida, Projecte Aristeu, La Cyca, and Esclatec. Representing Roques Blanques, Joan Ventura, General Director of Àltima Cemeteries, and Alfonso Galdo, Director of Maintenance, Quality, and Environment, attended the ceremony remotely to accept the award.
The EMAS Catalunya Awards are organized by the EMAS Club, with support from the Department of Territory and Sustainability (now the Department of Climate Action, Food, and Rural Agenda) of the Government of Catalonia.
Roques Blanques: A Leader in Sustainability
Roques Blanques’ commitment to the environment is longstanding. Located in the Collserola Natural Park, in the municipality of El Papiol (Barcelona), the cemetery has fully integrated into its surroundings through an architectural approach that respects the terrain and a policy of sustainable management. Various eco-friendly options for the disposal of ashes have been developed, such as the Forest of Calm, Family Trees, the Rest Garden and Fountain, and the Forest Path. The cemetery also received an EMAS Award in 2018 for the Forest Path project. In traditional burials, Roques Blanques was the first to develop green burials for coffins, such as the Green Niches and Forest Pantheons. Additionally, it introduced an electric hearse, the ION, for internal cemetery services and has been using other plug-in vehicles for maintenance and visitor services for over a decade.
Beyond its cemetery services, and due to its location in a natural forest environment, Roques Blanques engages in initiatives to protect and promote the native flora and fauna of Collserola. One such initiative is the Educational Beekeeping Project, launched last September, which aims to host up to 100 beehives to protect bees—key pollinators threatened by human activity, pollution, climate change, and pesticide use. The project includes educational and awareness aspects, such as organizing free guided tours of the apiary, and a social and solidarity dimension by supporting the employment of people with disabilities to craft "candles with a cause" from beeswax. These candles are given to cemetery users as a symbol to remember their deceased loved ones and are provided at the time of ash collection.