THE SHARING KIOSK – НЕБАЙДУЖІ

In this material, Maryna Markova tells us about a recent initiative called the Sharing Kiosk — a mobile pavilion that doesn’t sell but shares. As part of the project Sharing to Empower, it explores how newly arrived people from Ukraine in Berlin create their own forms of sharing, and how these practices can foster a sense of belonging, build community, and shape a new urban environment. The text is published in Urban Storytellers Journal, a publication created within the Urban Storytelling School program of the Center for Social Vision (Sofia) and C*SPACE (Berlin).

“Sharing” Kiosk – Небайдужі; Picture: Maryna Markova

A kiosk that doesn’t sell but shares – that’s how the project Sharing to Empower began. It explored how newly arrived people from Ukraine in Berlin invent their own forms of sharing and how these practices can create a sense of belonging, help build community, and help shape a new urban environment.

The starting point was the construction of a mobile Sharing Kiosk, designed and built by a Wilkommensklasse (classes for learning German as a second language) from Berlin. They gave it the name Небайдужі – a Ukrainian word for “those who care,” “those who won’t look away.”

It all started with a simple question: What would you share with others – and what should be shared with you? Objects, knowledge, gestures, memories. We built a collective storytelling process from this question. The ideas took shape as a mobile vehicle: a kiosk on a cargo bike, carrying things, experiences, practices and messages from place to place.

“Sharing” Kiosk – Небайдужі; Picture: Maryna Markova

Imagining ways of sharing

Some imagined a tiny hotel on wheels – a place to pause while on the move. Somewhere you could charge your phone, drink water, take a quick shower, fix your bike, and gather strength again.

Others envisioned a first-aid station for recently arrived people: shelves filled with essentials – hygiene items, clothing, medicine – alongside toys and crayons for children, food for pets. A shelf where you could leave something and take something in return.

One group wanted to dedicate the kiosk entirely to animals. Their reasoning: people often receive support, but animals rarely do. They imagined water fountains, feeding stations, and a small shelter to rest or hide – a piece of home for animals in the middle of the city.

Some looked back to their memories from Ukraine: games in the treehouses, friendships and conversations. Their vision was a kiosk similar to a treehouse – a joyful space with chairs in the sun, a secret box for wishes, and a glass cabinet to display and pass their messages.

“Sharing” Kiosk – Небайдужі; Picture: Maryna Markova

Shared outcome

Not all of these ideas could be easily combined. But step by step, a small kiosk on a cargo bike came to life: with self-built chairs, swap shelves, and tools to repair bikes. Its roof could fold out – at times becoming a dining table, at others a print station or a workbench for new ideas.

The kiosk turned into a place for stories. The young people wrote messages and memories on its surface. Inside, they left secret texts – words not meant to be read – and uplifting notes for those who would later encounter the kiosk.

In the end, the Sharing Kiosk became much more than a functional space. It grew into a collective storytelling tool, a living example of how participatory storytelling can empower young people to shape their environment, activate communities, and create new images of “home” in a foreign city.

The project was developed in collaboration with Koopkultur e.V., architect Thomas Wienands, and Tanja Sokolnykova, cultural mediator, somatic practitioner, and activist.