CORK CITY COUNCIL

In recent decades, new planning paradigms have reshaped cities. Urban regeneration has renovated public spaces, redeveloped city centers, and established innovation districts. Smart cities have implemented technological systems, such as transport management, water and contamination monitoring, and energy-efficient buildings. A new sustainable approach, including recycling, renaturalization, and recovery, has emerged in response to the demand for environmental sensitivity in urban planning. These strategies have mainly been applied to wealthy areas to attract tourism and companies, repositioning cities in the global economic framework. However, applying these regeneration strategies, smart systems, and renaturalization processes to deprived areas is crucial. These areas tend to face multiple urban problems, such as pollution, social and cultural issues, lack of services and low-quality built environments, and public spaces, leading to issues related to liveability, functionality, quality of life, social cohesiveness, and physical and mental health. Moreover, there is a growing need for climate change adaptation strategies, which has led to the implementation of Nature Based Solutions (NBS). However, a new pattern is emerging, which considers nature as a stakeholder in itself, beyond the ecosystem services it provides. Innovative technologies such as AI, machine learning, and immersive realities are also emerging, which can enhance the accuracy of information delivery and people engagement. GreenIn Cities aims to develop methodologies and tools for collaborative climate mitigation and adaptation urban planning approaches, specifically for deprived areas, addressing three main challenges: improving societal readiness level and awareness of vulnerable groups, going beyond classical greening and renaturing interventions, and leveraging cutting-edge technologies to enhance co-creation and maximize urban regeneration impacts.

EC contribution:

EUR 227k

Start:

2024-01-01

End:

2027-12-31

Status:

SIGNED

Scheme:

HORIZON-IA

Call:

HORIZON-MISS-2023-CLIMA-CITIES-01

View on CORDIS (DOI 10.3030/101139730)

European cities are at the frontline of the climate crisis, responsible for over 70% of global CO2 emissions while hosting 75% of the EU population—a figure projected to rise further. Cities are also increasingly exposed to the compounding impacts of heatwaves, flooding, air pollution, and energy poverty, all of which disproportionately affect vulnerable communities. At the same time, cities are expected to deliver on the ambitious goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2030 under the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities. However, urban planning and management processes remain fragmented, siloed, and often lack the integrated, real-time data analysis capabilities needed to support systemic transformation. TWINVERSE aims to design, implement, and operationalise a federated ecosystem of interoperable, AI-enhanced Digital Twins across diverse European cities to accelerate the transition toward climate-neutral, resilient, and inclusive urban futures. The project will develop modular, robust, and explainable AI-based services that integrate real-time and static urban data across multiple domains—such as mobility, energy, land use, socio-demographics, and green infrastructure—supporting scenario analysis, impact simulation, and participatory planning. TWINVERSE will empower local authorities with actionable intelligence to inform cross-sectoral decisions, foster citizen engagement, and contribute directly to the implementation of Climate City Contracts (CCC), Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs), and Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs). The project will ensure scalability, replicability, and sustainability through open-source components, capacity-building, and synergies with the EU Local Digital Twin Toolbox, Common European Data Spaces, and relevant mission-oriented partnerships, while stimulating EU innovation ecosystems and industry through market-oriented exploitation strategies.

EC contribution:

EUR 166k

Start:

2026-05-01

End:

2029-04-30

Status:

SIGNED

Scheme:

HORIZON-IA

Call:

HORIZON-MISS-2025-04

View on CORDIS (DOI 10.3030/101270783)