For a young man from Ghana with big dreams and limited funds, a master's scholarship to advance his studies abroad wasn't just an aspiration; it was the only way up. So, Emmanuel Essah applied. And applied. And applied again.
It took 101 applications, but finally his perseverance paid off, and he was awarded a scholarship to study a Master’s in Renewable Energy and the Environment at the University of Reading in the UK. Now, a quarter of a century later, Professor Essah heads up the School of the Built Environment at that same university and is the first person of black African heritage to take an academic leadership role at the institution.
“Imagine if I’d stopped at the 50th attempt?” he says with a smile.
That sheer, unrelenting grit has been something of a hallmark of Professor Essah’s career. When it came time for his PhD, it took 21 applications before the Glasgow Caledonian University said yes (he has a PhD in Building Science and Technology from that institution where he later worked as a research fellow), and now, that same spirit is needed as he steps into leadership as a black academic carrying the weight of being a role model on his shoulders.
Meet him, and you'll find a man who is gentle, respectful, and measured. But don't mistake a calm demeanour for compliance. The determination underneath is fierce.
‘In some cases, I need to work to convince people that maybe I will do things differently, and that might be a good thing,’ says Prof Essah. ‘Change is important, although not always easy.
‘It is an exciting time to lead at the University of Reading, with the 2021 Race Equality Review providing a clear roadmap for representation and inclusion across the university, and we take steps to decolonise our curriculum to ensure that our diverse student body, that is drawn from over 165 countries, can see themselves in their studies.’
What keeps him strong, he says, is having a clear purpose and an unshakable belief that he will get to where he needs to be. ‘Life has lots of ups and downs, more downs than ups,’ he says, ‘and when you are down, you really need something internal to motivate you and take you back up – nothing does that better than a dream, through faith.’
For him, his dream was always to get a good education, not just for the academic prestige it would bring him, but for the progress of Africa, the continent where he was born. As one of seven children growing up in Accra, Ghana, he saw firsthand that very few young people were able to get a decent education that could secure them and their family a better life. The struggle for survival in poor and informal settlements, which is a reality for the majority of the world’s population, is not an academic concept to Prof. Essah, but a lived reality. And it is this deep knowing that fuels his drive to promote human well-being through his work.
Over two decades, he has honed his academic scholarship and reputation within the field of the built environment, with a particular focus on energy, technology, and infrastructure to enhance how people – especially those who are vulnerable – live. His research has investigated optimising the application of solar energy systems, the role of technology in enhancing the built environment, energy demand and management, the effects of moisture transport, and indoor environmental quality. He employs a combination of building simulation modelling methods, including computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to track exactly how moisture and pollution move through a room to design spaces that actively protect human health, and is passionate about the potential of biophilic design to improve living conditions.
It is a field that is becoming more urgent by the day as the climate continues to warm and the imperative to adapt grows. ‘We are living in a rapidly warming world, but climate action has so far had limited impact,’ he says. ‘We need to focus now on how we adapt our communities, our infrastructure, and our environment to a world that is becoming more vulnerable to the extremes of climate change. We need to consider how to ensure a just transition.’
Nowhere is this more relevant than in Africa, the continent projected to be among the most vulnerable world regions, and also the one with the lowest adaptive capacity. It is with particular pride, therefore, that he finds himself forging ever greater ties to the continent through his research. Most recently, embarking on a major new research initiative with Dr Zamageda Zungu from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, where the University of Reading’s Henley Business School Africa campus is also located. The two are embarking on a University of Reading-funded project to investigate adaptation measures that deliver tangible solutions to enhance resilience in marginalised South African communities.
‘It is concerning to me that adaptation is not really getting the attention it needs,’ said Prof Essah, who has been a regular observer at the annual COP summits in recent years.
‘Only a fraction of climate financing flows to adaptation, for instance. I think this is in part because it is the less glamorous side of climate action, and partly because it is difficult, long-term work. Those projects that do get funding often come to a halt the moment they hit a stumbling block,’ he observes. ‘But the reality is, we will always hit stumbling blocks; we have to be prepared to persevere.’
For marginalised communities in Africa, these stumbling blocks are immediate and life-threatening. Loadshedding is not a temporary inconvenience; it is a permanent reality and many communities go without water for days. Professor Essah challenges us to recognise the lethal nature of infrastructure failure: living in sweltering, poorly insulated homes built without planning or fire safety, and navigating a darkness that actively traps people in poverty, leaving a young woman unable to safely walk to work before dawn without risking her life.
Solutions, he insists, must be built from the ground up and it starts with understanding what communities really need. His approach is radical in its simplicity: Stop talking about the poor and start talking to them.
‘There is a lot of lip service paid to the poor, but very few governments take the time to speak to them to understand how they live, what they need, and how to support them,’ he says. ‘Building true resilience requires listening to communities and applying robust scientific research to uncover cost-effective innovations that save lives and support livelihoods.’
Building resilience doesn't require billions, he insists. It requires listening. It requires empathy. It requires paying attention. Cost-effective, bottom-up innovations can and do save lives. For Professor Essah, each of us has a choice in how we respond and how we use what we have to bring about positive change.
‘Doing nothing is not an option. Doing only what we have always done is no longer enough.’