Dr. Haruka ONO is an Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering at Toyohashi University of Technology (TUT), Japan. She earned her BSc, MSc, and PhD in Engineering from the University of Tokyo. Her research encompasses informal urbanism, sustainable urban shrinkage, disaster mitigation and recovery, naturally symbiotic urbanism, and smart cities, with extensive fieldwork conducted in Asia and Africa. From 2022 to 2024, she served as an Advisor to the President of TUT, leading regional development initiatives. Previously, as Vice President of the Urban Design Center Matsuyama (2016–2017), she advanced sustainable urban design management through public-private-academic collaboration. Her work bridges research and practice, fostering collaboration among local stakeholders to address urban challenges inclusively and innovatively in both developed and developing contexts.
Dr. Ono is an associate member of the Science Council of Japan, serving as Chair of its Young Academy, and a member of the Global Young Academy. She also played a pivotal role in founding the Japanese Association for the Advancement of Science, serving as its first Representative Director (2021–2022), where she championed broader engagement in science, including citizens as key stakeholders.