About the project
This project – funded by the British Academy and Leverhulme Trust and conducted in May 2024 – draws on University of Sussex research into the politics of recognition in relation to solidarity and solidarity fatigue in relation to contemporary displacement within Europe in relation to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Solidarity has long been of interest to social scientists, but the phenomenon of solidarity fatigue – as opposed to compassion fatigue – has received significantly less academic attention. Building on the prominent political justifications of solidarity fatigue in central and Eastern European media in the wake of the conflict in February 2022, solidarity fatigue might be manifested and expressed in different ways to contextualise different justificatory articulatory strategies, in the light of negotiations around differing values between those offering solidarity and those receiving it.
In order to understand how and where such solidarities might have occurred or otherwise across the cities in question, the project team employed object elicitation, photography and participatory map-making activities across the two workshops in Berlin and Warsaw in order to further understand how and why Ukrainian women feel recognised or not within the cities in which they now live. The work was supported by NGOs in the two cities including Miodrag Kuč at the centre for urbanism ZK/U in Berlin, and Marek Troszyński at Collegium Civitas, and staff at Ukraiiński Dom in Warsaw.
Goals
The workshop’s aim was to explore the ways in which participants felt recognised or misrecognised within the cities to which they had been displaced. Elena and Dasha have significant experience of running participatory workshops as part of their practice Architectures of Emergency. The aim for the workshops was that by using map-making, object elicitation and walking activities, dimensions of recognition in relation to participants’ sense of belonging or unbelonging in their host cities might be co-produced. Participants were paid for their time, with the workshops subject to Sussex’s full ethics processes regarding best practice, including use of data and consent. The workshops were held in Ukrainian.
Participatory considerations and practices
The workshops were structured into four distinct stages, each designed with activities to guide the participants through a process of introspection, connection, and expression. These included exercises on personal belongings, city mapping, city walk and photo collection. With the first part’s focus on personal belongings, participants shared items that, at first glance, seemed ordinary — spoons, patches, matches, dog items, a flag, books, a taekwondo belt, and even a negligé. Yet, each item carried a story, often tied to the themes of war and evacuation. For instance, one participant shared a spoon, part of their ‘anxiety suitcase,’ while another held keys from their apartment in Ukraine and a ruler to plan the renovation works in that apartment, reminders of the life they left behind.
Many of the items shown were still connected to Ukraine, despite the participants having been displaced for over two years. Some carried passports, ID cards, COVID masks, and even medication for stomach spasms — a physical manifestation of stress and trauma. What struck us most during this part of the workshop was how the group dynamics evolved. Initially, the participants were reserved, sharing their stories in a formal manner. However, within the first hour, a transformation occurred—they began to open up, speaking with a level of honesty and vulnerability that was deeply moving. It was as if the act of sharing these personal objects unlocked a flood of emotions and memories, turning the workshop into a space of collective healing. It was interesting to see these items from ‘the previous life’ in new circumstances.
The second part of the workshop focused on city-scale mapping, where participants identified locations of recognition and significance in their new cities. This exercise highlighted their adaptation to their new environments, and also their connection to their past. In both Berlin and Warsaw, participants were attached to the green spaces — parks, bodies of water, and nature. This preference for natural environments also reflected a need for tranquility. Another significant part of the story was places of transit, like train stations, refugee temporary camps, and document processing centres, administrations of different kinds.
Apart from these places, usually perceived with tension, we saw a lot of green (positive) marks on the urban texture that we mapped, symbolising grades of acceptance and well-being in new places. People enjoyed their neighbourhoods and admired decentralisation and community ways of living, a strong contrast to their experiences in Ukraine, where public spaces and interacting with others often felt uneasy. In both cities, the questions of history and heritage arose. In Warsaw, the reconstruction after World War II served as a parallel to Ukraine’s current situation, offering hope that their homeland, too, could rise from the ashes of war. In Berlin, the scars of the Second World War and the Cold War were visible and constantly caught the attention of group members.
During the third stage, participants engaged in a walk on their own or in a smaller group, and a botanical collection, exploring local neighbourhoods on a smaller scale. One participant remarked, ‘just walking quietly on a Monday is a luxury,’ highlighting the simple pleasures they could now engage in. The exercise allowed them to see their neighbourhoods in a new light, noticing details they had previously overlooked. They collected pieces of plants (often they chose plants they were familiar with at home and that matched). One woman saw a flower of a peony, which was strongly connected to her mother and shared a touching story about her. Another task was taking photos – as many as possible.
This final stage involved participants selecting five images from their phones to form a photo expression. The themes varied—from the greyness of the cityscape to the vibrant colours of nature. Even the names of the series were poetic: ‘Something out of context’, ‘Sky, Bees/city/people’, ‘Red colour’, ‘Happiness is in little things’, ‘Spring colours of Warsaw’, ‘Try to be happy where you are’ – in this grey colour… the photos reflected a blend of dislocation and adaptation, with images of skies, architecture, and everyday scenes, and the narrative behind them was resilience and hope, finding joy despite the challenges being faced.
Project outcomes
In Warsaw the participants explored the significance of objects they carried with them day-to-day. One woman described carrying two items from their Kyiv apartment, including a measuring tape to remember their ‘past life’. ‘It’s like a good-luck charm,’ they said. Those attending relayed the experience of leaving, describing how they initially packed every essential document out of fear but now carry things more symbolically: ‘We don’t know how to be carefree about this. Everything must be kept together.’ Even though they don’t need items like a Ukrainian passport or driver’s licence anymore, some participants still carry them.
Regarding the mapping activities, the farmers’ protests in Poland have contributed to feelings of anxiety and insecurity in the city centre of Warsaw, and this was indicated through the participants’ mapping. Train stations like Warszawa Wschodnia carry emotional weight as places of farewells and transit. Parks, however, were perceived as symbols of order and comfort.
One participant reflected on settling in Warsaw, and living for six months without unpacking. ‘Finding an apartment took a long time—I was literally begging to finally have a normal place to live.’ They highlighted Warsaw’s rebuilding after its destruction in the Second World War: ‘The people of Warsaw decided—they would rebuild.’ They admire how Polish society engages with history through events like Holocaust Memorial Day, contrasting this with how Soviet-style commemorations felt forced in Ukraine: ‘Here, no one forces anyone…! People organise these events themselves.’
In Berlin, participants identified strongly with Lankwitz in Steglitz-Zehlendorf, a district in southwest Berlin where the Ukrainian community have settled: ‘All these dots you see – my mom lived there for many years… We all practically live on the same street.’ They describe this area as a place of stability and connection, with the Ukrainian center NEST providing a sense of home.
Tegel Airport holds complex emotional weight as one of the main entry points for Ukrainian refugees: ‘Without Tegel, you couldn’t stay in Berlin.’ Registration for refugee status was initially processed there, but the situation has become problematic. One participant described overcrowding and human rights violations. Despite efforts from Ukrainian political leaders and the embassy to address the situation, the conditions remain dire, with injured Ukrainian soldiers among those without support. The participant contrasted their growing sense of belonging in certain areas with the systemic issues refugees face. Their reflections highlighted the tension between finding stability in a new city and an ongoing struggle for recognition.
Another speaker stayed one night in a hotel near the train station, feeling lost and confused: ‘We just arrived at the train station, not really understanding how the maps worked.’ However, they quickly secured an apartment in Charlottenburg near the palace, where they found their first sense of calm: ‘That was the first place where we experienced a sense of peace and tranquility.’ Now settled in Alt-Tegel, the speaker describes finding a true sense of peace. The speaker contrasts Berlin’s natural spaces with what they missed in Kyiv, appreciating the German focus on maintaining green spaces: ‘It feels like there’s a real interest and priority in maintaining that connection with nature.’
Reflections
Elena will continue her participatory map-making activities in Kyiv Oblast in June 2025, as part of the project with two main strands: piloting and researching participatory digital map-making and mapping community reconstruction sites overlooked by mainstream platforms, including those funded by INGOs. This community-led work builds on past mapping of environmental damage and debris removal. A digital map of these sites will be displayed at Sussex’s Digital Humanities Lab, and various Kyiv institutions. Researchers will also interview participants and activists about digital mapping, algorithmic search, and AI imagery, informing a future AHRC/ESRC bid, and continuing to develop participatory mapping as a critical response to crises of belonging and misrecognition across different urban environments.
This project addresses urgent questions at the intersection of urban communication, post-conflict recovery, and digital representation. By centring community agency in mapping reconstruction efforts, the project challenges dominant, externally-driven narratives about Ukraine’s built environment and foregrounds local knowledge in urban recovery. The research also critically evaluates how digital platforms and AI-driven tools mediate visibility and power in crisis contexts, contributing to scholarship on media infrastructures, civic participation, and spatial justice.
Learn more
https://lina.community/projects/1885beb0-e38b-41f0-b6f3-d99205e71544
https://actu.epfl.ch/news/ukraine-architectures-of-emergency