The journey toward a climate-neutral future is too complex for any single city to solve alone. Fragmented data, isolated planning tools, and disconnected systems have long held back our progress. But all that changes today.
We are proud to announce the official launch of TWINVERSE, a groundbreaking Horizon Europe project led by LINKS Foundation, designed to transform how European cities plan for the future. By connecting five distinct “Galaxies” of innovation, we are building a Federated Universe of AI-enhanced Digital Twins that goes beyond simulation to actively co-create the future.
Our journey has just begun with a dynamic virtual kick-off meeting, uniting 26 partners from across Europe. During this session, we aligned on our shared roadmap and discussed how to integrate explainable AI and federated data spaces to address real-world urban challenges. While our digital launch allowed us to synchronise our technical strategies, we know that true innovation thrives on face-to-face connection.
The ABE team (Katarina Đokić, Sara Matković and Davide Guariento) will lead the communication, dissemination and exploitation efforts to ensure project’s global visibility and long-term impact. We will ensure that TWINVERSE results reach policymakers, industry leaders, and citizens across Europe. ABE will make certain that the “TWINVERSE Galaxies” are not just connected technically, but also socially and politically.
The vision: A living, connected city
Imagine a city that doesn’t just react to heatwaves or traffic jams, but also learns from them, adapting to become stronger. This is the concept of antifragility.
TWINVERSE moves beyond the traditional Digital Twin, instead, we are creating a dynamic, living ecosystem. By leveraging federated data spaces and interoperable standards (such as NGSI-LD and the EU LDT Toolbox), we ensure that data from a single municipality flows securely to other EU cities, creating a shared intelligence that benefits everyone.
Meet the five galaxies (and our growing constellation)
Our project anchors itself in five diverse European cities, each acting as a unique hub of innovation:
Milan, Italy: Focusing on just service distribution to combat energy and cooling poverty.
Cork, Ireland: Optimising sustainable energy generation and consumption across the city.
Kalamata, Greece: Leading the way in heat and air quality risk assessments.
Lappeenranta, Finland: Optimising urban services for extreme winter conditions.
Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain: Pioneering sustainable multimodal mobility.
These five cities are the bright stars in our initial constellation, connected by a federated data infrastructure that respects local sovereignty while enabling global-scale collaboration.
However, the TWINVERSE universe is designed to expand. Our ambition extends far beyond these initial pilots; we are building a scalable ecosystem ready to welcome new members into the fold. We are already seeing this growth in action with Turin, Italy, which has officially joined the project as an associated partner. Turin’s early involvement demonstrates the replicability of our approach and marks the first step in extending our federated network to other European cities eager to accelerate their own climate-neutral transitions.
The launch is just the beginning. Over the next three years, we will build, test, and refine a new paradigm for urban governance. We invite you to follow our journey, share your ideas, and help us build cities that are not just resilient, but antifragile.
“We are not here to create the best solution for the sake of technology, but to build the one cities need to do a step forward” – Fabrizio Dominici, Head of AI, Data & Space at LINKS Foundation
