Kenneth Nsah Mala

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  • Expert in Environmental Humanities, Sustainability Science, Foresight and Futures Studies, University of Cologne

Nsah Mala (born Kenneth Toah Nsah) is a multiple award-winning expert in Environmental Humanities, Creative Writing and Storytelling, Planetary Wellbeing, Sustainability Science, and Anticipatory and Long-Term Governance, Strategic Foresight and Futures Studies. He is also a poet, writer, children's author, consultant and journalist.

He holds a PhD in Arts, Literature and Cultural Studies, specialising in Comparative Literature, Environmental Humanities, and Futures Studies, from Aarhus University (Denmark), and an Erasmus Mundus Master's in Crossways in Cultural Narratives, jointly awarded by Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (France), the University of St Andrews (UK), and Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (Spain). He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Bilingual Studies (English and French) from the University of Yaoundé 1 and a Bachelor of Education in Bilingual Letters (English and French Education) from the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) de Yaoundé, both in Cameroon. In 2023, he obtained the French Qualification aux fonctions de Maître de Conférences (MCF) from the Conseil National des Universités in Section 11 – English Studies, and in 2026 he completed a Master's in International Relations and Diplomacy at Université Jean Moulin Lyon III, France.

His doctoral thesis, "Can Literature Save the Congo Basin? Postcolonial Ecocriticism and Environmental Literary Activism," won the 2022 Prix de thèses francophones en Prospective (Prize for Francophone Theses in Foresight and Futures Studies), awarded by la Fondation 2100 (France) and l'Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF). In 2023, he was named a Next Generation Foresight Practitioner (NGFP) Fellow (Judges' Choice) at the School of International Futures (SOIF) in the UK. In 2025, his participatory foresight project, #CongoBasinFutures, won the inaugural Dubai Foresight Awards in the Foresight for the Planet category, and he served as a judge for the Africa Region of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. He has also received literary prizes in Cameroon and France, and is widely published across academic research, creative writing, journalism, and policy.

Nsah Mala has worked with and/or consulted for numerous organisations, including Cameroon's Ministry of Secondary Education, Aarhus University (Denmark), Radboud University (Netherlands), the University of Lille (France), the University of Cologne (Germany), the European University for Wellbeing (EUniWell), the UNESCO-MOST BRIDGES Coalition, the Brookings Institution (USA), Mongabay News (USA), Future Earth CNRS (France), the Public Policy in Africa Initiative (PPiAI), and the Commonwealth Foundation, among others. He is currently affiliated with the University of Cologne, the University of Lille, the University of Nottingham, the School of International Futures (SOIF), and the Nkafu Policy Institute.

Experience

  • 2022–present
    Freelance Copyeditor in French, Mongabay News
  • 2024–present
    BRIDGES Hub Coordinator and Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Cologne
  • 2023–2024
    Attaché temporaire d'enseignement et de recherche (ATER) - Teaching and Research Fellow, Université de Lille
  • 2022–2022
    Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Epistemic Justice, Radboud University
  • 2018–2021
    PhD Research Fellow - Comparative Literature and Environmental Humanities, Aarhus University

Education

  • 2026 
    Université Jean Moulin Lyon III, MA International Relations and Diplomacy
  • 2022 
    Aarhus University, PhD in Comparative Literature and Environmental Humanities
  • 2022 
    SOAS University of London, Global Diplomacy – Diplomacy in the Modern World
  • 2020 
    United Nations Staff System College, The Paris Agreement on Climate as a Development Agenda
  • 2018 
    Université de Perpignan Via Domitia , Master Arts, Lettres et Civilisations - Études Anglophones
  • 2018 
    University of St Andrews, MLitt Erasmus Crossways in Cultural Narratives
  • 2018 
    Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Erasmus Master Crossways in Cultural Narratives
  • 2015 
    University of Oregon, Building Teaching Skills through the Interactive Web
  • 2012 
    École Normale Supérieure de Yaoundé, B.Ed. in Bilingual Letters (English & French)
  • 2012 
    University of Yaoundé 1, BA Bilingual Studies (English & French)

Honours

2022 Prix de thèses francophones en Prospective - Fondation 2100 et Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie / 2023 Next Generation Foresight Practitioner (NGFP) Fellowship (Judges' Choice) - School of International Futures (SOIF) / 2025 Dubai Foresight Award, Foresight for the Planet category - Dubai Future Foundation / 2025 Judge for the Africa Region in the Commonwealth Short Story Prize

Contact Kenneth for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration
  • Research supervision