Europe’s Citiverse comes to Barcelona

Four EU flagship Citiverse projects bring the Citiverse vision into practice through real-world pilots and use cases at Smart City Expo World Congress 2026, 3 to 5 November.

3DxVERSE, x-CITE, SENSE and European Citiverses Uniting for Inclusiveness, the four European flagship Citiverse projects co-funded by the European Union’s Digital Europe Programme, will showcase how the European Citiverse vision is being put into practice through real-world pilots, use cases and citizen engagement. The four projects come together in one shared Citiverse booth within the European Twinning & Citiverse Plaza pavilion: Hall 3, Stand D71.

The Citiverse is an emerging European digital ecosystem where cities can connect, collaborate and co-create solutions to real urban challenges. At its heart are Local Digital Twins: digital representations of cities and urban environments that let citizens, planners, businesses and policymakers explore scenarios, test ideas and support decisions on mobility, climate resilience, public space, accessibility and urban development.

By bringing together artificial intelligence, extended reality, geospatial data and participatory tools, the Citiverse aims to give cities of every size access to advanced digital capability while strengthening Europe’s digital sovereignty and competitiveness.

Each project has its own focus, and together they contribute to the wider Citiverse ecosystem:

3DxVERSE develops AI- and XR-powered digital twins for sustainable mobility and smart urban living, helping optimise transport, energy use and public services in Aruba, Almelo, Timișoara and Hamburg.

x-CITE turns complex urban plans and data into interactive 3D experiences, so citizens can explore, understand and help shape their city, with use cases in Flanders, Rotterdam and Tampere.

SENSE helps cities create interactive, interoperable and real-time digital twins, where citizens and municipalities can jointly explore, test and improve urban spaces. Its pilots run in Cartagena and Kiel, with Arezzo, Valongo, Murcia and Thessaloniki as follower cities.

European Citiverses Uniting for Inclusiveness explores how digital twin technology, AI and universal design can create new ways to explore and understand physical environments, making the city more accessible to all, with a pilot in Gothenburg.

The four EU flagship Citiverse projects collaborate to exchange knowledge, align approaches and maximise collective impact. Together, they bring the CitiVerse to life on the ground, testing technologies and approaches in real urban environments, engaging citizens and local stakeholders, and exploring how their results can contribute to interoperable, reusable and scalable solutions across Europe.

Meet the projects in Barcelona

At Hall 3, Stand D71, visitors can meet the project teams, try the demos and see first-hand what the pilots have developed so far. The four projects also share the stage in some joint sessions:

Stage session: ‘Discover Europe’s Citiverse: OASC & 4 EU Co-funded Projects’ (Flanders roadshow), 3 November | 14:00 – 14:35 | Main stage European pavilion

Stage session: ‘From Vision to Public Value: How Cities and Citizens are building the Citiverse’, 3 November | 16:05-16:50 | AI X Cities stage

Stage session: 'From Pilots to People: Putting the Citiverse into Practice' (Citiverse roadshow in cooperation with ITU), 4 November |13:20 - 14:15 | Main stage European pavilion

You can meet all Citiverse projects in a ‘Meet & Greet’ on 4 November, 16:30 – 17:30, in the Citiverse booth.

Cities should not have to choose between digital capability and digital sovereignty. The CitiVerse aims to bring both together, enabling cities to benefit from advanced digital tools while strengthening their control over data, services and future development.

Visit the projects
 3dxverse.eu · xcitecitiverse.eu · senseverse.eu · cu-project.eu

November 3rd

12.00 Accessibility and Interoperability – Lowering thresholds to Gothenburg with digital twins, AI and open sourced solutions
Demo session at the European Twinning & Citiverse Plaza Sandbox area
Laura Olin, Chief Product Officer, Younite
Johan de Pauli, Digital project developer, Göteborg & Co

12.40 Designing for All: How Gothenburg Uses Digital Twins to Build Inclusive Cities
Stage session at the European Twinning & Citiverse Plaza
Monica Ek, Co-Project Leader, European Citiverses Uniting for Inclusiveness, Lindholmen Science Park
Eric Jeansson, Geo Data Strategist, City of Gothenburg

14.00 Discover Europe’s CitiVerse: OASC & 4 EU Co-funded Projects
Stage session at the European Twinning & Citiverse Plaza
Karl-Filip Coenegrachts, Chair of the Board of Directors and Executive Director, OASC
Inma Molina, Libelium, Project Manager SENSE project
Lieven Raes, Smart City advisor, Flemish Government, Flanders pilot x-CITE project
Dan Folkesson, Head of CoE Digitalisation, City of Gothenburg, pilot European Citiverses Uniting for Inclusiveness project
Harm Jan Arendshorst, iLabs, Technical Coordinator 3DxVERSE project

15:05 From Cradle to Silver: Are Cities Designing for Wellbeing at Every Stage of Life?
Stage session Stage: Cities X People
Featuring: Jenny Lindström Beijar, Our Normal Association, Founder and Managing Director

16.05 From Vision to Public Value: How Cities and Citizens are building the CitiVerse
Stage session Stage: AI X Cities
Featuring: Anna Wennblad, Project Leader, European Citiverses Uniting for Inclusiveness, Lindholmen Science Park

17.00-19.00 ’Mini’ meet n’ greet at our booth - focus on demo and user research
Meet us at our booth at the European Twinning & Citiverse Plaza

November 4th

09.00-13.00 ’Mini’ meet n’ greet at our booth - focus on demo and user research
Meet us at our booth at the European Twinning & Citiverse Plaza

12.00 Accessibility and Interoperability – Lowering thresholds to Gothenburg with digital twins, AI and open sourced solutions
Demo session at the European Twinning & Citiverse Plaza Sandbox area
Laura Olin, Chief Product Officer, Younite
Johan de Pauli, Digital project developer, Göteborg & Co

11.40 Citiverse Roadshow - Building an interoperable AI-enabled citiverse; standards, open ecosystem, collaboration approach
Stage session at United Nations Pavillion

13.20 Citiverse roadshow - 'From Pilots to People: Putting the CitiVerse into Practice'
Stage session at the European Twinning & Citiverse Plaza
Clément Bacchi, Policy Officer, AI for Societal Good, European AI Office, DG CONNECT, European Commission - Bilel Jamoussi, Deputy Director, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU
Moderator: Anna Wennblad, Innovation Lead, Lindholmen Science Park
Panelists:

• Sebastian Valkama, City of Tampere, Project Manager x-CITE
• Roelof Hellemans, Secretary General, Mobility Alliance, SENSE
• Harm Jan Arendshorst, Technical Coordinator 3DxVERSE
• Monica Ek, Co-Project Leader, European Citiverses Uniting for Inclusiveness, Lindholmen Science Park
• Jan Wester, Director, LDT CitiVERSE EDIC
• Cristina Bueti, Counsellor, ITU (TBC)

14.50 Citiverse roadshow - Cities That Think, Adapt and Connect: Harnessing AI, Digital Twins and the Citiverse
Stage session at United Nations Pavillion

16:30 Meet & Greet CitiVerse projects in CitiVerse booth
European Twinning & Citiverse Plaza

• 13:20 | Citiverse Roadshow – 'From Pilots to People: Putting the CitiVerse into Practice'
Stage session at the European Twinning & Citiverse Plaza
Featuring Clément Bacchi (European AI Office, DG)

November 5th

09.00-13.00 ’Mini’ meet n’ greet at our booth - focus on demo and user research
Meet us at our booth at the European Twinning & Citiverse Plaza