Katya Romanova

“What are your favourite cemeteries in Berlin?” I was asked this question so often that I decided to make reels about each of my top 5… 2 years ago 😂 My hair grew long, I grew older, but my choices stayed the same, soo let’s start with this teaser and stay tuned for locations & reasons to go to each of them 💚 Thank you @holla_sweetie that you let me drag you around Berlin and ask to film all of this at 35+ 🥵

Hi, my name is Katya @kat_romanova , and this week I had the pleasure of taking over the Placemaking Europe. Here’s the recap of what I have shared with you 💕 1. I’m a social designer and co-founder of @reimagineyourcity based in Berlin. My work bridges design, research, and socio-cultural initiatives, with a strong focus on participative and community-based formats. 2. In my practice, I work with topics of urban transformation, participation & access, audio storytelling, and rituals of remembrance. One of the examples is my podcast @berlin_bones , where I look into the transformation of Berlin cemeteries into potential spaces of encounters - with their playgrounds, gardens, cafes and exhibition chapels. 3. Currently, I work at the citizen participation office @pankowbeteiligt in my Berlin district, where we translate bureaucratic, specialized German into digestible language about what’s being planned, built, and developed in the district, and invite for collaboration. 4. My latest topic is city pigeons! 🕊️ I got curious about this non-human perspective on the city and using my design skills to create more empathy and passion for these cuties 🌸 Look forward to connecting with you beyond this week! Thank you 💌 📸 @azizianaita

Tauben am Kotti. Nervig oder Frieden? 🕊️🥚 rumEiern – Station 2 am Kottbusser Tor Tauben: Für die einen „Ratten der Lüfte“. Für andere ein Symbol für Frieden. Was stimmt für dich? Hat sich dein Blick schon mal verändert? Sag’s uns in den Kommentaren ❤️ oder 🐦 – Welches Team bist du? #rumEiern2026 #kotti #berlin #ostern #stadtleben @sprit_und_sohle @unbox_berlin @liebetutderseelegut @kat_romanova

One day, I got a call from Sasha: “Katya, would you like to decorate a huge egg for Easter at one of the cemeteries?” The offer was so random that I immediately said yes—without having the slightest idea what I would do with it. When we later met to brainstorm, I mentioned that I’m currently researching pigeons at Kottbusser Tor. And suddenly it clicked: it should be a pigeon egg. 🥚🕊️ The pigeon, symbol of peace, of the Holy Spirit, and a sacred animal in many religions, felt like the perfect starting point for an Easter egg project. So here I am, testing this Ei-Catcher before bringing it to Kotti next week. If you’re around, look for a huge egg and come by for a chat about pigeons and urban coexistence 🌸 On Wednesday, amazing people from @stadttaubenprojekt_berlin_e.v will join, so you can ask all your questions about pigeons and pigeon care. Dates: Mon, 30.03 Tue, 31.03 Wed, 01.04 Thu, 02.04 🕒 15:00–19:00 📍 next to Café Kotti and around Kottbusser Tor @htw_publicdesign @qm_zentrumkreuzberg @kotti_ev @kottiundco @ann.r.xx @felix_e_gle @willoweed

Hallo, ich bin Katya Romanova @kat_romanova und dieses Jahr werde ich als Kiez-Reporterin für das Quartiersmanagement Beusselstraße unterwegs sein, indem ich den Stab von Gerald Backhaus @geraldbackhaus_official übernehme. 🔵 Was bedeutet das? In diesem Jahr treffe ich mich mit spannenden Menschen aus dem Beusselkiez und dem Huttenkiez, die sich aktiv im Quartiersmanagement Beusselstraße und in den dadurch geförderten Projekten engagieren. Gemeinsam gehen wir auf Spaziergänge, führen Gespräche und entdecken, was diesen Teil von Moabit besonders macht. 🔵 Wer bin ich? Ich bin Social Designerin, studiere zurzeit Public Design und arbeite im Bereich Stadtteilarbeit & Bürgerbeteiligung. Ich wohne zwar nicht in Moabit, aber durfte vor einigen Jahren das östliche Moabit durch das Design Lab Moabit @iheartmoabit erkunden, in dem wir Kiez-Hotspots gesucht und gemeinsam neue visuelle Darstellungen des Bezirks entwickelt haben. Für mich steckt in lokalen Geschichten viel Kraft – sie schaffen Nähe und Zugehörigkeit. Seit sieben Jahren lebe ich in Weißensee und bin dank meiner Arbeit mit Kiezgeschichten richtig im Stadtteil angekommen. Ich bin gespannt, welche Geschichten auf mich warten und freue mich, diese Schätze mit euch teilen zu dürfen! ❔Wen soll ich unbedingt treffen und welche Orte könntet ihr mir empfehlen? Schreibt gerne in den Kommentaren! 📩

Taking a pause 🌊 with everything that gives me energy: ocean, sun, walks, time in silence, surfing, playing with dogs, reading, pintxos, talks…

I left my position as a program & communications manager at C*SPACE @cspaceberlin . It’s been 22 months of: - meeting 5 to 20 new people every week, - experimenting with formats from social dinners to cemetery walks, - having hundreds of collaboration & brainstorming sessions in the kitchen, - working 4 minutes away from my home (I will miss that!!), - falling in love with tea and decaf coffee, - succeeding at simultaneously working on a project proposal, writing posts and cleaning, - creating inspiring beautiful spaces for connection ♡ I won’t be able to mention everyone I’ve met in this time, but I’m grateful to have crossed paths with all of you! Special thanks to my extended C*SPACE team - Katja, Jan, Jack @jackbecher , Annette @anianu07 , Lavia @deepintheblueblau , Polina @pollyblind and the neighborhood cat Katze 🐱

Best transition into the November mood 💖 with @monika.jiang at @cspaceberlin

​👻 Spooky season is near—and so is Día de los Muertos. As we enter the darker months, we’re gathering for a Shared Table Dinner on grief, mortality, and impermanence, in collaboration with @kat_romanova , @berlin_bones , and @cspaceberlin . 🍂 The questions and weight around death are ones we often carry alone—and they don’t have to be. 🌙 Loneliness often lives in the silences around loss, in the things we don’t say or don’t know how to share. Yet when we speak of death, we also speak of life—of who we’ve loved, what we’ve lost, and what still connects us. Will you join us? 🍁 Thursday, October 30 | 18:30 🪦 @cspaceberlin 🍲 Potluck-style (veggie + alc-free) 🏵 Donation-based 💛 Sign up via link in bio . . . #TheOnelinessProject #SharedTableDinners #BerlinBones #grief #death #impermanence #loss #communitycare #Berlinevents

“What do you actually study as a public design student?” As I begin my second semester of my M.A. in Public Design @htw_publicdesign , I looked back at what the first 4 months brought. If put very short, these were 4 intense months of real-life collaborations with public institutions and municipalities, lots of interdisciplinary team work (maybe too much at times 🥲) and juggling the studies with dozens of other projects and work obligations. And the main learning was to have radical hope that - despite all the shit currently happening - changes are possible. Check the carousel for my highlights, and if you’re curious: applications for the next cohort are open until 31.10 at @htw_publicdesign

#Bureaucrazy is a typo — or is it? For many people, it’s the best way to describe German #bureaucracy. Last week, at the Bureaucrazy workshop with Reimagine Your City, we reflected on how to turn the struggles of being a newcomer in a new country into opportunities for connection. By sharing personal stories, we explored ways to get involved in local initiatives, navigate German authorities and build meaningful relationships in the places we call home. Big thanks to everyone who joined the workshop. Here are some of our highlights! And special thanks to @reimagineyourcity , Magdalena Patalong and Katya Romanova for guiding the session, as well as to @cspaceberlin for hosting the event. Learn about the upcoming events at our website csf-ev.org. Photos by Gleb Kalinin @glebkalinin .

Workshop | Bureaucrazy: Navigating and Engaging with Berlin Authorities 📍Sep 17, @cspaceberlin This workshop is aimed at activists, artists, journalists, and NGO representatives from migrant communities who have had little or challenging experience in dealing with German authorities. Hosts: • Magdalena Patalong: “I used to work at the Federal Foreign Office and often witnessed how anxious many actors felt when dealing with me as a representative of a German authority. But I also noticed how this tension often dissolved once we met in person — when they realized I was “just” a human being, too. Later, I realized that civic actors from migrant communities carried even stronger fears — because of unfamiliarity with administrative systems, fear of unknown consequences, and language barriers. That’s I’d like to share knowledge, bring clarity, and give people the confidence they need to ask questions and engage more boldly.” • Katya Romanova @kat_romanova : “I moved to Berlin eight years ago and, in the beginning, found it difficult to feel connected to the place where I lived. Over time, that changed: I got involved in local initiatives, and built relationships with my neighbors. I also founded @reimagineyourcity , a network exploring creative and participatory ways to reimagine public spaces. Still, I often ask myself how we can actually influence decisions in our neighborhoods and at the city level. This workshop is an invitation to explore that question together, by discovering both formal and informal tools for engagement.” The workshop is open to 25 participants, on a first come first serve basis. It is funded by @csfberlin , in cooperation with C*SPACE coworking & project space. • September 17, 12:00-ca.16:30 • @cspaceberlin , Langhansstr. 79, 13086 Berlin • Registration until September 10: link in bio 📸 Katya Romanova, Anastasiia Yermolaeva