Introduction

This research focuses on documenting and preserving the collective memory and oral histories of Odesa, Ukraine, in the context of ongoing armed conflict. Its aim is to gather testimonies, family archives, and local narratives associated with cultural and historical sites damaged or destroyed by war, treating these sites as lieux de mémoire that embody identity, resilience, and social cohesion. While future reconstruction efforts remain a consideration, the study prioritizes the intangible heritage of Odesa, creating a live online archive to safeguard non-material memory and provide a dynamic record of cultural loss (Iashchenko, 2025). By combining documentation of lived experience with attention to the material heritage awaiting reconstruction, the project contributes to the development of new methodologies in Digital Humanities and Memory Studies, highlighting resilience, cultural continuity, and the safeguarding of vulnerable urban histories in Eastern Europe. The project is cooperative effort supported by the LivArch initiative of European History Institute in Mainz (IEG) and it is a part of a major project ODESSIA focused on reconstruction of post-war Ukraine at Sapienza University of Rome.

Research Design

The project's central concern is to preserve the collective memory related to the violated sites through direct participation relying on the best foundation of citizen science. Through the collection of oral histories, family archives, and local narratives, this project aims to safeguard the non-material heritage of Odesa, recognizing that heritage is both material and experiential, the initiative seeks to empower local communities to reclaim their history, identity, and memory through storytelling and collaborative processes.

The primary research question guiding this project is: “How can the integration of collective memory, oral history, and participatory archiving contribute to the post-war restoration of Odesa’s cultural and historical heritage, ensuring that the reconstruction process reflects the lived experiences and emotional landscapes of those affected by conflict?” Answering this question will establish knowledge and practices applicable to the broader restoration of Ukraine’s historically significant cities, such as Chernihiv, Kherson, and Kharkiv. Moreover, it offers a valuable framework for addressing the complexities of post-conflict urban restoration and identity reconstruction in various global contexts.

During the implementation of the project, a website will be developed and fully opened

Right now, the site is under development, and it is not fully opened to public, but it is planned to open the platform by the date of DH conference 2026 after an Alpha test.

to assist with data collection such as stories, interviews, photo materials with expected limitations posed by privacy legislation. The participatory approach offers a model for reconstruction that is both ethically responsible and culturally sensitive, ensuring that the rebuilding process acknowledges the profound human experiences tied to destroyed sites.

Methodology and Theoretical Framework

This research draws on theories of memory studies, urban violence, and heritage reconstruction. In the context of urban violence, Pavoni and Tulumello (2023) argue that the phenomenon is deeply intertwined with the processes of urbanization and the socio-political dynamics inherent within urban settings. They suggest that urban violence cannot be merely viewed as isolated incidents within a city but must be understood as manifestations of broader structural and systemic issues that are intrinsic to the urban condition. Additionally, this study engages with Pierre Nora’s concept of lieux de mémoire (sites of memory), which emphasizes the significance of physical and symbolic spaces in the construction of collective memory. The destruction of urban heritage is approached as a form of cultural violence aimed at erasing or reshaping collective identities.

The research employs a mixed-methods approach, integrating fieldwork, digital data collection, and digital humanities analysis. Oral history interviews are conducted (remotely and in person) with local inhabitants to gather personal memories and family archives related to specific sites, capturing narratives that reveal diverse and overlapping memory structures. Besides, photo materials, videos, social media posts, written testimonies and remembrances will be collected as well.

To facilitate mass data collection, an online platform currently in development will be employed, allowing individuals to upload narratives, pictures, and videos related to Odesa’s heritage. This platform is designed to function as a live-archive and virtual museum of collective memory, offering educational resources and generating social impact

The project will adhere strictly to legal and ethical standards related to privacy, data protection, and memory studies. All data collection, including interviews, photographs, and videos, will comply with Italian Law (Legislative Decree No. 196/2003 and GDPR Regulation (EU) 2016/679), EU regulations on privacy and data processing, and Ukrainian Law on Personal Data Protection (No. 2297-VI, 2010). In line with these regulations, all collected data will be anonymized and disaggregated to protect individuals’ identities, with explicit consent obtained where necessary.

. The online platform currently under development for this project is being custom-built rather than based on pre-existing CMS solutions like WordPress or Joomla, as those platforms are not optimized for managing large, complex, and dynamic datasets such as high-volume multimedia files, geospatial data, and annotated oral histories.

Instead, the platform is being developed using a flexible backend architecture (based on Django/Python) with PostgreSQL and GeoDjango for spatial data integration, which allows for scalable, secure storage and interactive mapping functionalities necessary for the project's long-term goals. The platform is designed to integrate photos, videos, transcripts, and emotional metadata into a cohesive and searchable archive of Odesa’s war-damaged cultural heritage. At the current stage, the platform is not publicly accessible due to the ongoing data verification and system optimization process; however, a beta-testing version with limited access for academic collaborators and institutional partners is planned for release during the summer of 2026. This controlled testing phase will ensure both data integrity and usability prior to wider scholarly and public access.

Digital humanities approaches will be employed, including topic modeling to identify common narratives related to specific sites and detect similarities and differences in collective memory (Blei, 2012). Additionally, sentiment analysis of audio files will be used to detect emotional responses during discussions of sites, supporting the argument that urban heritage’s importance is reflected in the emotional engagement of respondents (Karsdorp, 2023). The strength of emotional responses during storytelling related to the sites will be considered as the way to indicate the most important urban objects (Iashchenko, 2024). This methodology follows the precedent established by research on GULAG victims and mass ethnic repression in the USSR carried out by the author of this proposal (PhD thesis, “Soviet Ethnic Cleansing in the Memory of Ethnic Minorities: Perceptions and Collective Trauma”, Sapienza University of Rome, 2025).

The interdisciplinary nature of this project combines memory studies, digital humanities, urban studies, and heritage conservation to create a comprehensive framework for documenting and analyzing the urban heritage of Odesa.

Current Results and Work in Progress

To date, a large body of visual and textual data has been collected from open-access sources, including traditional and digital media as well as social networks. The current archive comprises approximately 1,075 photographs, 275 media reports, 450 publicly accessible social media posts, and nearly 75 videos, and over 550 telegram channel posts were collected, including 4500 comments; the whole data set is securely stored using cloud-based technologies.

In addition, the first remote interviews have been carried out, providing qualitative insight into local perceptions of the war’s cultural impact.

Preliminary analysis of the collected materials suggests that Odesa residents react to the destruction of the urban environment with emotional intensity comparable to that evoked by direct human violence. Interviewees consistently describe the attacks on schools, cemeteries, and even small neighborhood shops as acts of inhuman destruction – deeply personal violations tied to memory, family, and everyday life. When discussing the bombing of landmarks like the Odesa Cathedral, many expressed that such attacks feel like an erasure of identity itself, striking at the core of what defines them as Ukrainians.

Conclusions and Expected Impact

This project seeks to contribute critically to the fields of public and participatory history, cultural heritage preservation, and digital humanities through a decolonial and citizen-driven approach to documenting war-related urban destruction in Odesa. Drawing on the principles of citizen science and participatory history, the research methodology centers on the voices of residents, those who are not only witnesses but also the bearers of cultural memory, lived experience, and heritage, rather than privileging external interpretations. The initiative challenges traditional top-down frameworks of heritage documentation by treating community members as co-researchers whose testimonies and archives are essential to understanding the full impact of cultural loss. Through oral histories, surveys, open-access visual and textual materials, and collaboration with local institutions, the project will create live-archives that do more than preserve memory: they actively trace and map acts of urban violence as they occur, enabling a dynamic, living record of cultural erasure and resistance.

By intertwining tangible and intangible heritage, the project positions collective memory as a civic and ethical act, with implications for urban studies, heritage policy, and trauma-informed approaches to post-conflict recovery. The planned digital platform will operate not merely as a repository but as a collaborative tool for historical analysis and advocacy, enabling transnational access and dialogic engagement. In doing so, it reinforces the urgency of decolonizing heritage by making visible the narratives of those most affected by war and displacement, and bridges digital tools with effective storytelling. Ultimately, this initiative supports the formation of resilient cultural identities and proposes a scalable, human-centered framework for heritage preservation in zones of political and military instability.