Ro3kvit launches “The City Between Us”, a podcast about decolonizing our relationship with the city.

What if we looked at decolonization as a way of unpacking an old relationship? Of figuring out where our habits come from, what we still put up with out of inertia, what we want to hold on to, and what it’s long past time to let go of.
Five conversations about cities, space, and how the imperial past continues to shape our everyday urban lives — from learning to recognize its traces to exploring what we can do about them.
The conversations are curated by Svitlana Usychenko and Mariam Naiem.
The audio podcast was created by the Ro3kvit Urban Coalition and is produced as part of Vidnova Lab 2026, a programme created by Commit gGmbH with the support of Robert Bosch Stiftung.
All episodes are available in Ukrainian.
Project team: Svitlana Usychenko, Albina Chasnyk, Oksana Hrabchak, and Oleksandra Shekhyreva.
Episode 1
Relationships with a Complicated Past
Imagine you have an old building you love. Love at first sight, and everything is wonderful for years. Then you discover that its façade tells a rather ordinary imperial story. What now? Love it a little less, cancel it, or try to understand it?
With Dasha Korba, we talk about our complicated relationship with historic buildings: what actually makes heritage imperial, whether everything created under an empire automatically belongs to it, and what we can do about it today. And how not to end a relationship along with the façade.
After the Conversation
Try this: Before you start exploring a city, simply spend a little time with it. Choose a place where you feel comfortable, sit down, and take a moment to look around and listen to what’s happening. Only then go and discover its history — through publicly available sources, archives, and, of course, the local library.

Episode 2
Together, As Long As It Suits Me
We live in the city, go away “into nature” for a holiday, miss the village where we used to spend our summers, and call all of it ours. It seems we’ve figured out what we want from these relationships. But when does loving nature turn into a right to control it?With Maria Smirnova, we talk about our relationships with rivers, landscapes, and the other species we share these spaces with. Why do we still see nature as a resource? And what can decolonization change in the way we see, value, and transform the environment around us?P.S. This episode turned out to be a little more immersive than we’d planned. Maria recorded her part outside the city, so our conversation about relationships with nature came with its own soundtrack. We hope it won’t distract you from the conversation 💚
After the Conversation
Read: On Time and Water by Andri Snær Magnason — a book about climate change, water, and our relationship with nature. The author weaves scientific data together with personal and family stories, mythology, and the history of Iceland.

Episode 3
Де взаємність?
Our city. But who gets to make decisions about it?
We’re used to someone else deciding what our streets, courtyards and public spaces should look like. And even when something doesn’t work for us, it often feels like only those in positions of authority can do anything about it.
But where does this mindset come from? And do we really have as little influence as we think?
In the third episode of The City Between Us, we talk with Lidiia Hontar about how imperial and Soviet centralisation shaped our understanding of local self-government, why residents’ participation in shaping their city still isn’t always seen as something natural, and how we can gradually change this relationship. We’ll also talk about Lutsk, where Lidiia works with local initiatives.
We’ll also try to unpack the familiar phrase “someone should do something about this” — and figure out who that mysterious someone actually is.
After the Conversation
Watch: Ted Lasso. Lidiia suggests turning to stories that may be a little idealistic but are full of humanity, support, and faith in one another. She reminds us that sometimes, the support we need isn’t found in bricks and mortar, but in the people around us.

Episode 4
The Overly Controlling Partner
It seems that someone is making a few too many decisions for us in our relationship with the city.
Where we go for a walk, how we get to work, how easy it is to meet our neighbours, and how safe it feels to let a child play outside on their own. Many of these decisions are already built into the way our cities are designed. We’ve grown so used to them that we don’t always notice just how much our surroundings shape our lives.
But the good news is that we can change this relationship. And we don’t necessarily have to start with major redevelopment projects.
In the fourth episode of the City between us podcast, we talk with Ivanna Maliy about grassroots initiatives, neighbourhood communities, and small changes that gradually make cities better places to live. We also explore how we can reclaim a little more influence over the spaces around us.
After the conversation
Read: Good News from the Aral Sea by Irena Karpa — a novel about four Ukrainian women living in Paris, their relationships, their search for themselves, and their attempts to build a life far from home.
Watch: Pamfir — a Ukrainian film by director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk about family, choices, and life in a small community in Bukovyna.
Listen: Nytso Potvorno — Time Line.