A new European city network dedicated to citizen-centred Local Digital Twins (LDTs) and Citiverses launches on 6 October 2026 with a half-day online event, Accessible by Design: Launching the Citizen-Centric LDT Network.
Initiated by the European Citiverses Uniting for Inclusiveness project, the network will grow through collaboration with the LDT CitiVERSE EDIC ecosystem. It brings together cities, public authorities, researchers, industry and civil society organisations to share experiences and explore how accessibility, Universal Design and citizen-centred approaches can contribute to the development of Local Digital Twins and Citiverses across Europe.
European Citiverses Uniting for Inclusiveness is one of four EU-funded projects, alongside x-CITE, SENSE and 3DxVERSE, working together to advance interoperable and citizen-centred digital twins for European cities.
Agenda
The half-day agenda (10:00–14:00 EEST) moves from technical standards to real-world practice to European strategy:
- The half-day agenda (10:00–14:00 EEST) moves from technical standards to real-world practice to European strategy:
- 10:00 – 10:05: Meet and Greet and Project Introduction - Anna Wennblad, Project Leader of the European Citiverses Uniting for Inclusiveness project, Lindholmen Science Park
- 10:05 – 10:15: European Citiverses Uniting for Inclusiveness project Demo of wayfinding with avatars and chatbots - Aki Kossi, Tech Lead at Younite AI
- 10:15 – 10:45: Economic potential of Universal Design in smart city technology & Bringing Universal Design functionalities to market - Loredana Gavrilescu, Business Development Lead at European Citiverses Uniting for Inclusiveness project, Iceberg Plus
- 10:40 – 11:00: Key Note Speaker: The LDT CitiVERSE EDIC: securing quality and trust through interoperability - Jan Wester, Director of the LDT CitiVERSE EDIC
- 11:00 – 11:10: Online coffee break
- 11:10 – 11:35: From barriers to access: Universal Design in smart city technology (Research & Learnings from our process) - Jenny Lindström Beijar, Inclusive User Research Lead at European Citiverses Uniting for Inclusiveness project, Founder of Our Normal Association
- 11:35 – 11:55: Integrating Standards for Geo Data and Accessibility in the Gothenburg Digital Twin - Eric Jeansson, Geo Data Strategist at City of Gothenburg
- 11:55 – 12:05: Online coffee break
- 12:05 – 12:40: Building intelligent systems with Digital Twins — Laura Olin, Chief Product Officer & Aki Kossi, Tech Lead at Younite AI
- 12:40 – 13:05: AI assistants and youth with neurodiversity: Design considerations for responsible, inclusive and supportive AI tools - Jenny Lindström Beijar
- 13:05 – 13:15: Online coffee break
- 13:15 – 13:30: Synthetic Societies: Modeling Human Behavior at Scale - Timmy Ghiurău, Co-Founder of The Point Labs/Midbrain
- 13:30 – 13:55: Roundtable on Collaborative & Sustainable City Solutions - Led by Claus Popp Larsen, Focus Area Leader for Connected Cities at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden
- 13:55 – 14:00: Closing remarks by Anna Wennblad
