Leika Aruga
About
My PhD thesis explores the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in participatory processes in sustainable urban transformations. Specifically, I am studying the use of digital platforms for participation such as Decidim by local governments as part of their urban planning practices. While digital participatory platforms are developed to make participatory processes open, transparent and democratic, such ideals and their realization depend on continuous reworkings of power dynamics. Through case studies in Norway and Japan, my thesis aims to articulate material-discursive practices that shape materializations of participatory practices in which digital participatory plaforms are one of the actors.
I am part of the Sustainable Digital Transformations project under NTNU's Interdisciplinary Sustainable Initiatives.
Research interests
- Feminist science and technology studies
- Intersectionality
- Posthumanist performativity
- Citizen / public participation
- Urban planning and development
Academic background
I have a MSc in Globalisation and Sustainable Development from NTNU as well as an LL.M in International Laws on Human Rights and Criminal Justice from Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
Research
Publications
2025
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Ringrose, Juliette;
Aruga, Leika Reh;
Ringrose, Priscilla Marie;
Chiba, Daiki.
(2025)
A World of Windows: Reflections on Sociocultural and Material Dimensions of Domestic Spaces in Japan and Norway.
Home Cultures
Academic article
2024
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Aruga, Leika;
Refstie, Hilde;
Rørtveit, Hilde Nymoen.
(2024)
“The Citizen” as a Ghost Subject in Co-Producing Smart Sustainable Cities: An Intersectional Approach.
Urban Planning
Academic article
Journal publications
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Ringrose, Juliette;
Aruga, Leika Reh;
Ringrose, Priscilla Marie;
Chiba, Daiki.
(2025)
A World of Windows: Reflections on Sociocultural and Material Dimensions of Domestic Spaces in Japan and Norway.
Home Cultures
Academic article
-
Aruga, Leika;
Refstie, Hilde;
Rørtveit, Hilde Nymoen.
(2024)
“The Citizen” as a Ghost Subject in Co-Producing Smart Sustainable Cities: An Intersectional Approach.
Urban Planning
Academic article
Teaching
I teach in the following courses:
COIL KULT3308 - Gender & the Home
HFO1003 - Diversity and integration: Transcultural dynamics
HFO1004 - The Human Era? Topics in Environmental Humanities
KULT2025 - Interdisciplinary profile course: Sustainability
Supervision
I am supervising master's thesis in the Equality and Diversity master's programme.
Outreach
2025
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Academic lectureAruga, Leika. (2025) Democratic care in making digital-physical participatory spaces in Suginami, Tokyo. Norwegian University of Science and Technology Sustainable digital transformations webinar 2025-05-23 -
2024
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Academic lectureAruga, Leika. (2024) Entanglements in doing democracy with digital participatory platform Decidim. Åbo Akademi University NESS2024 Nordic Environmental Social Science Conference , Turku 2024-06-04 - 2024-06-06
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Academic lectureAruga, Leika. (2024) City making and diversity: entanglements in doing democracy with digital participatory platforms. Ochanomizu University IGI International Seminar , Tokyo 2024-07-17 - 2024-07-17
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Academic lectureAruga, Leika. (2024) Digital Platforms for Participation in Co-producing Sustainable Neighbourhoods . University of Stuttgart Right to the City 4.0? Digital Planning and Participation Arrangements for an Intelligent Transformation of Urban Infrastructures , Stuttgart 2024-05-16 - 2024-05-17
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Academic lectureAruga, Leika. (2024) Intra-action in urban sustainability making: understanding digital participatory platforms. Norwegian University of Science and Technology Sociomaterial Transformations in Norway and East Asia (SoMaT) Webinar Series 2024 2024-04-23 - 2024-04-23
2023
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Academic lectureAruga, Leika. (2023) Citizen participation in sustainable digital transitions. Ochanomizu University Information and Research Exchange Symposium 2023-04-24 - 2023-04-24
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Academic lectureFurunes, Alexander Eriksson; Aruga, Leika Reh. (2023) Making through mutualism. STS Italia Conference 2023 2023-06-28 - 2023-06-30
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Academic lectureAruga, Leika. (2023) Researching digitalization, diversity and sustainability in practice. Sociomaterial Transformations in Norway and East Asia (SOMAT) project kick-off 2023-09-21 - 2023-09-21
2022
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Academic lectureAruga, Leika Reh. (2022) Who are the 'citizens' in co-producing smart sustainable cities? An intersectional analysis of the Borgerkraft citizens' jury in Trondheim, Norway. TU Dortmund University Symposium on Delivering Urban Transformation Through Co-production 2022-01-24 - 2022-01-24
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Academic lectureRingrose, Juliette; Aruga, Leika. (2022) Tracing the boundaries of the home through the material and sociocultural framework of the domestic window: Reflections on Japan and Norway. ASIANET 2022: Asia and Fragmented Globalisations 2022-06-16 - 2022-06-17