About
Henry Mainsah is a Research Professor at OsloMet and part of the Technology and Suatainability research group at Consumption Research Norway (SIFO). He obtained a PhD in Media and Communication from the University of Oslo and has developed an interdisciplinary research portfolio located at the crossroads between the social sciences and the creative disciplines focusing on digital media, youth culture, design, and interdisciplinary methods. Mainsah’s research covers topics such as digitization, digital literacy, youth culture, smart living, creative research methods, and participatory design.
Research groups
Research projects
Completed research projects
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IMAGINE – Contested Futures of Sustainability
When you think about the future, what do you imagine? Flying cars, tubed food, or high-tech clothing might be among the images that come to mind. IMAGINE sets out to study these images of the future as imaginaries. Imaginaries are the many ways in which we humans think about the future and ways in which they can become possible. Our project looks specifically at how we imagine sustainable futures.
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LASTING: Sustainable prosperity through product durability
How can the lifespans of consumer goods be increased?
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Relinking the weak link. Building resilient digital households through interdisciplinary and multilevel exploration and intervention
What roles do socio-technical practices and infrastructures play in shaping security risks in technologies of the home and what tools and interventions can be developed to enable digitally resilient households?
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U-YouPa – Understanding Youth Participation and Media literacy in Digital Dialogue Spaces
The key goal of this project is to provide a research-based understanding of the interconnection between cultural and technological preconditions for strengthening youth participation in digital dialogue spaces.
Publications and research
Scientific publications
Mainsah, Henry
;
Habib, Laurence
(2025).
Participation using ethical practices.
Hornmoen, Harald; Hyde-Clarke, Nathalie; Stuedahl, Dagny (Ed.).
Media Engagement, Literacy, and Dialogue among European Youth.
Routledge.
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3530357
Stuedahl, Dagny
; Nilsson, Elisabet M.; Sackl-Sharif, Susanne; Selnes, Florence Namasinga;
Mainsah, Henry
;
Hornmoen, Harald
(2025).
Methods for doing participatory media research with youth.
Hornmoen, Harald; Hyde-Clarke, Nathalie; Stuedahl, Dagny (Ed.).
Media Engagement, Literacy, and Dialogue among European Youth: Participatory Research as a Gateway.
Routledge.
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/5041748
Mainsah, Henry
; Nilsson, Elisabet M.; Sackl-Sharif, Susanne;
Stuedahl, Dagny
; radkohl, sonja
(2025).
Toolkits for including youth in Media research activities.
Hornmoen, Harald; Hyde-Clarke, Nathalie; Stuedahl, Dagny (Ed.).
Media Engagement, Literacy, and Dialogue among European Youth.
Routledge.
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3864570
Dahle, Margunn Serigstad; Dralega, Carol Azungi;
Mainsah, Henry
(2024).
Video gaming and parents’ mediation strategies in a Norwegian context.
Dahle, Margunn Serigstad; Meyer, Grete Skjeggestad (Ed.).
Danning i digitale praksiser. Digital danning i barnehage, skole, hjem og fritid.. p. 187-204.
Fagbokforlaget.
https://doi.org/10.55669/oa380312
Teigen, Helene Maria Fiane
;
Paupini, Cristina
;
Mainsah, Henry
(2023).
Intra-Acting With Technology During Remote Fieldwork in Homes: Curating Video Interviews and Drawing Methods.
International Journal of Qualitative Methods (IJQM).
Vol. 22.
https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069231185466
Prøitz, Lin; Langeland, Fredrik;
Steinnes, Kamilla Knutsen
;
Mainsah, Henry
(2022).
Hybride maskuliniteter og hatideologi på nett: en litteraturgjennomgang om incels i et feministisk medievitenskapelig perspektiv.
Norsk medietidsskrift (NMT).
Vol. 29.
https://doi.org/10.18261/nmt.29.2.3
Raymond, Corbin Edin; Morrison, Andrew;
Mainsah, Henry Nsaidzeka
(2022).
Framing scenario thinking in a mode of futures by design inquiry.
Proceedings of DRS.
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.688
Dralega, Carol Azungi; Katuwal, Yam Bahadur;
Mainsah, Henry
(2022).
COVID-19 Lockdown, Information Access and Use Among African Diaspora in Norway.
Dralega, Carol Azungi; Napakol, Angella (Ed.).
COVID-19 and the Media in Sub-Saharan Africa: Media Viability, Framing and Health Communication. p. 197-213.
Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-271-620221013
Boe, Carolina Sanchez;
Mainsah, Henry
(2022).
Porte de la Chapelle: Les migrants à la trace.
Gardesse, Camille; Courant, Stefan Le; Diez, Evangeline (Ed.).
ÉDITIONS L'ŒIL D'OR.
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3875155
Mainsah, Henry
; Rafiki, Nicole
(2022).
Methodological reflections on curating an artistic event with African youth in a Norwegian city.
Qualitative Research.
https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941221096599
