Urban Hack Kalush Intro
Urban Hack will take place in the city of Kalush on 01-03.05.2025. It will operate in three scales, focusing on a former kindergarten and its grounds (1.3 ha), the surrounding neighborhood, as well as the general housing situation in Kalush. The former kindergarden building will be turned into housing for Internally Displaced People (IDP). The Hack will result in a joint vision and recommendations for action for Kalush.
The Urban Hack is organized by the Estonian Association of Architects, NGO Ro3kvit Urban Coalition for Ukraine in cooperation with Shared City Foundation, CO-HATY and the city of Kalush. The hack is part of a series of four urban forums in Ukraine within the scope of the European cultural project “UREHERIT”, funded by the European Union.
Agenda
01 May | Thursday
Day 1
11:00 — Coffee and registration (seated)
11.30 — Welcome | Moderator Ülar Mark
Overview of the three days, what’s going to happen
11.40 — Opening words | Bohdan Biletskyi, Deputy Mayor of Kalush
11.50 — Opening words | Elin Andersdotter Fabre, UN-Habitat Office in Ukraine
12.00 — Opening words | Ando Rehemaa, Estonian Embassy in Kyiv
Economy and Business Diplomacy and Reconstruction Counsellor
12.10 — Introduction to Co-Haty project | Anna Pashynska, Co-founder and Curator of the Urban laboratory METALAB and affordable housing project CO-HATY
12.20 — Brief Presentation | Mariia Ufimtseva
12.30 — Presentation of the survey results | Maria Gryshchenko
12.55 — Introduction to team leads | Ülar Mark
13.00 — Divide into groups
The participants and residents get to know each other
13.10 — Small lunch at the venue
14.00 — Exploratory site visit
All teams and residents, led by team leaders
16.00 — Discussion summary
17.00 — End of day 1
17.30 — Dinner and informal networking
Cafe Radius
02 May | Friday
Day 2
10:00 — Coffee and registration (seated)
10:30 — Introduction
Summary of day 1 and introducing the brief
10:45 — Start of group work: Analyse material and describe challenges
13:00 — Lunch
Cafe Radius
14:00 — Group discussions continues: potential solutions
17:00 — Small presentations
All of the groups share what they have discussed, 5 minutes/group
18:00 — End of day 2 (free time)
03 May | Saturday
Day 3
10:00 — Coffee and arrival
10:30 — Continuation of group work
Introduction of tools for recommendations and guidance for preparing presentations
13:00 — Lunch
Cafe Radius
14:00 — Finalising presentations
(10 min/group + 5 min translation)
15:00 — Group 01 presentation of ideas and outcome
15:15 — Group 02 presentation of ideas and outcome
15:30 — Group 03 presentation of ideas and outcome
15:45 — Group 04 presentation of ideas and outcome
16:00 — Group 05 presentation of ideas and outcome
16:15 — Cross-group discussion/Q&A
16.45 — Coffee break
17:00 — Reflection session.
Bohdan Biletskyi, Deputy Mayor of Kalush
Anastasiia Ponomariova, architect, co-founder of the NGO Urban Curators and the CO-HATY Charitable Foundation
Valeriia Prudnikova, Head of the Council for Internally Displaced Persons.
17:50 — Closing words | Moderator Ülar Mark
18:00 — End of the day (free time)
%20(2).png)
.png)
Team Leads
Rebecca Pütsep
Landscape architect
Urban space designer,
Rebecca Pütsep is an Estonian urban space designer and landscape architect whose creative signature can be seen in several notable public space projects. Her work combines aesthetics, functionality, and environmental awareness, offering residents and visitors high-quality urban environments that support the diverse needs of everyday life.
Rebecca is passionate about making cities more human-centered places where people of all ages and abilities can move around and live comfortably, safely, and with dignity. Her projects reflect thoughtful solutions that encourage walking, cycling, and the use of public transport, while also strengthening the sense of community and connection to nature in urban settings.
She believes that well-designed public space can greatly enhance quality of life and foster social cohesion. Through her work, she has made a valuable contribution to the development of public spaces in Estonia and carries a strong vision for creating more people-friendly urban environments in the future.
Anna Pashynska
Co-founder and Curator of the Urban laboratory METALAB and
affordable housing project
CO-HATY.
Anna Pashynska is the co-founder and curator of the urban laboratory METALAB, the affordable housing project CO-HATY, and the Center for Development and Product Design POLE.
She is a co-founder of the "City Scanning Session" festival, which took place in Ivano-Frankivsk - a festival about the city, urbanism, architecture, art, and music.
Anna is a laureate of the "UP 100: The Power of Women" award.
With expertise in urban planning, spatial research, product design, and public space projects, Anna is dedicated to creating innovative solutions that address community needs. Anna leads projects focused on sustainable design, inclusive urban development, and the integration of social and environmental values into urban planning and architecture.
Kaspar Tammist
Organizer of the Opinion Festival, Community activist, Entrepreneur
Kaspar Tammist is actively involved in strengthening community life in Paide, a small but vibrant town in the heart of Estonia. He contributes to various local initiatives that bring people together, from civic engagement projects to co-creating public events. One of he’s main focuses has been community involvement and participation, making sure that different voices are heard and valued. He was co-creator of "PaideWay" (word play on by the way) outdoor space experiment in the heart of the city– a unique initiative that reimagines how shared spaces in small towns can support collaboration, creativity and a stronger sense of belonging.
He’s also been one of the organizers of Opinion Cullture Festival in Estonia, that has risen to be one of the driving forces of democratic dialogue in Estonia.
.png)
Varvara Yagnysheva
Architect,
Researcher in Urban Curators and METALAB
Varvara Yagnysheva is an architects, she is a part of Urban Curators and METALAB.
Varvara is involved in urban research, with a particular focus on projects relevant to Ukraine’s war context. One of her studies explores global experience to bomb shelter design, offering insights that can inform the development of shelters in Ukraine.
Another project centers on the architectural identity of the Donetsk region, Varvara’s home area. Together with a team of colleagues, she conducted an expedition across settlements in the region to document buildings, streets, and churches — many of which are at risk of disappearing due to ongoing war.
Liina Soosar
Architect,
Architecture Competition Coordinator at the Estonian Association of Architects
Liina Soosaar is an architect and photographer by education, whose recent activities focus on process management, especially in her work as an architectural competitions coordinator at the Estonian Association of Architects.
Professionally, she is fascinated by the topics of affordable housing, equality and accessibility. Against the backdrop of world events, the topics of civil protection and sheltering are also increasingly important. Creative processes and systematic action are simultaneously arousing her.
Urban Hack in Kalush.
Detailed description
Her Urban Hack
Urban Hack is a tested format for participatory planning and local development using a multi-stakeholder approach. During the Urban Hack a diverse set of local stakeholders (municipal politicians, architects, developers, entrepreneurs, representatives of state agencies and the local community) come together to discuss local contested spatial issues, build trust between stakeholders, make concrete joint proposals for improving the common living environment. The results of Urban Hack are always non-binding.
In Kalush the Urban Hack methodology will integrate elements of the Her City Toolbox. A participatory approach mainstream intersectional perspectives in the urban development process. Like the Urban Hack, Her City applies a multi-stakeholder approach to local development and provides tools for involving societal groups that stand far from the traditional decision making process such as girls, young women, IDPs etc. By collecting data, analysing needs and visualising solutions together with local communities, we get cost-efficient, sustainable solutions that support decision makers and inform the decision making process.
The fast paced nature of the Hack allows for visionary illustrations and rapid prototyping of developing scenarios for a particular territory. The final product may vary – sketches and drawings in presentation format, a brief for an architectural/urban planning competition, a Youtube video recording or a series of radio shows. However, the final result will include visualisation for Kalush and recommendation for action.
The Urban Hack is organized by the Estonian Association of Architects, NGO Ro3kvit Urban Coalition for Ukraine in cooperation with Shared City Foundation, CO-HATY and the city of Kalush. The hack is part of a series of 4 Urban Hacks in Ukraine within the scope of the European cultural project “UREHERIT”, funded by the European Union, with additional funding from ESTDEV – Estonian Centre for International Development, Republic of Estonia Ministry of Culture and Swedish Institute.
¹ Urban Hack (formerly called Urban Forums) is a participatory planning methodology by Estonian Association of architects, with the first Urban Forum held in 2009.
² Her City is a joint urban development initiative managed by Shared City Foundation and UN-Habitat (the United Nations Human Settlements Programme
Intersectional approach to urban development
As levels of urban insecurity, gender inequality and exposure to urban-related climate change risks accelerate, there is a need for effective and scalable measures to strengthen the agency of girls and young women and to ensure their inclusion in urban planning and development processes for the design of safe, equal and resilient cities. This population segment is rarely consulted in the planning, design and budgeting processes for urban development. At the same time, documented experience shows that girls – when consulted – plan with diversity, the common good, and the environment in mind.
An intersectional gender transformative perspective helps to understand, engage and give agency, by collecting disaggregated data to make well-informed decisions guiding urban governance, planning, design and management. Good urban planning and governance calls for a high level of decentralisation, a strong local democratic processes and accountability. Multi-level, multi-sector and multi-stakeholder cooperation can significantly affect environmental, economic, and social sustainability and equality, reducing the risk of conflict and insecurity.
Internally displaced people (IDPs) in Ukraine
Since full-scale invasion in February 2022, approx. 21,8 million people remain severely afflicted by the war; more than one-third of Ukrainians have been forced from their homes during the last two years. Within Ukraine, more than 3.6 million people remain displaced having moved from the worst affected eastern regions towards the central and western regions. As well as large numbers of returnees are trying to rebuild their lives in the safer western region. After almost two years of displacement, IDPs report that their savings have been exhausted to continue to pay the rent for their apartments. Particularly underrepresented groups, such as elderly, single headed households, people with disabilities who were not able to afford the high market rents remain within the collective centers with no prospect of longer-term housing solutions due to the lack of social or affordable housing in the country prior to war and onwards. Moreover, the existing collective centers are not enough to accommodate all the IDPs with housing needs. The non-displaced population also experience challenges related to housing (e.g. energy poverty, steep rental increase) due to the general economic decline caused by the protracted war.
Kalush town
Kalush urban hromada has formed around the city of Kalush and has a population of 67 887. Kalush is the second largest city of the Oblast and is Raion’s capital. The city is located in the northeast of the Ivano-Frankivsk region and has several industries and potential job opportunities for internally displaced people. Kalush currently has an estimated 5400 IDP registered with the Hromada administration, that are accommodated in the 5 collective centers and in private rentals. The Collective centers are supported by local NGOs and predominantly house elderly households and other vulnerable groups. An additional collective centre with a capacity of 150 people, for people with a disability is planned. The mayor stated that the rental prices have increased substantially since the IDP Household influx. Also city representatives confirm that the need for housing is huge.
Urban Hack Site - Former kindergarten
The former kindergarten was constructed in 1966 as part of a microdistrict during the Soviet era. This microdistrict is a section of the larger urban entity, New Kalush. While the rest of New Kalush underwent minor spatial expansions after the Soviet era, this microdistrict has remained the same. Its original urban composition is still preserved to this day.
Soviet spatial planning, which guided New Kalush territorial development, incorporated a large amount of open space. The site, located in the very center of the neighborhood, also features a sizable green area. This allows for the potential densification of space and an increase in the floor area ratio (FAR) if necessary, while still adhering to urban planning constraints. It also provides a quiet space away from the road, surrounded by a large green zone, connected to housing.
The Kalush Urban Hack will focus on three different scales, the former kindergarten building and its grounds (1.3 ha), the surrounding neighborhood, as well as the general housing situation in Kalush. Her Urban Hack focuses on mapping the challenges related to resilient groups, especially IDP-s and women, and proposing spacial solutions to these challenges.
UREHERIT Project
«UREHERIT. Architects for heritage in Ukraine: recreating identity and memory» - is a three-year-long European cultural project which aims to build competence in the fields of heritage protection, regeneration of culturally meaningful sites and projects in Ukraine. The project addresses heritage as a resource for sustainable cultural, social, environmental, and economic recovery, while solving challenges of preservation, re-definition and highlighting the national and local cultural identity in Ukraine. The broader goal of the project is to encourage the local communities of Ukraine to build a new, democratic,
and sustainable Ukraine with a unique yet European cultural DNA. Within UREHERIT a total of four Urban Hack’s (formerly Urban Forums) will take place in Ukraine in the period between 2024-2025, with the first two Forums serving as pilots.
The project is co-funded by the European Union, with additional funding from ESTDEV – Estonian Centre for International Development, Republic of Estonia Ministry of Culture, Swedish Institute. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author (s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EACEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
