As part of the DigiTwins4PEDs research project, the article ‘Hybrid Participation for a Citizen-Led Energy Transition’ has been published in the special edition 2025 ‘Urban Transformation’ of the journal Transforming Cities. The article shows how digital twins and innovative participation formats can support cities in implementing Positive Energy Districts (PEDs).
PEDs are urban districts that generate more energy than they consume over the course of a year. In order for this concept to be successfully implemented, technical solutions and, above all, the active involvement of citizens and local stakeholders are required.
This is exactly where DigiTwins4PEDs comes in: urban digital twins serve as interactive platforms for simulating energy scenarios, visualising them in an understandable way and developing them further together. By combining digital and analogue participation formats (hybrid participation), transformation processes become more transparent, inclusive and practical.
The project is investigating this approach in several European cities, thereby making an important contribution to a socially supported and data-based energy transition at the neighbourhood level.Further information on the project can be found here.
