The DigiTwins4PEDs research project was represented at the international SSH Energy 2025 conference, organised by ETH Zurich, with the contribution ‘Co-Creating Urban Energy Transition with Living Labs and Urban Digital Twins’.
The presentation focused on the question of how the urban energy transition can be made socially equitable, participatory and effective. In order to achieve the EU target of 100 Positive Energy Districts (PEDs), social factors are crucial in addition to technical solutions: awareness, acceptance and active participation of citizens.
DigiTwins4PEDs combines living labs with urban digital twins (UDTs) for this purpose. The digital twins make it possible to simulate energy scenarios, calculate flexibility potential and visualise the effects of behavioural changes. In this way, complex technical innovations are presented in an understandable way and can be used as a basis for decision-making by administrators, energy experts and urban society.
The three-stage intervention process presented comprises:
- Activating citizens through participatory formats and surveys,
- Developing and testing energy scenarios in the living lab using UDT models,
- Deriving neighbourhood-specific strategies for energy generation, storage and conservation.
Further information can be found here.
