This conference explored the collaboration between the Netherlands and Flanders in the field of smart cities. It delved into shared challenges, innovative solutions, and opportunities for cross-border cooperation. Practical workshops covered topics such as applying the latest technologies and using digital twins for smart city development. The event also showcased inspiring projects in areas like sustainable mobility and drone-based security. Networking opportunities were available for professionals and experts to connect and share experiences. The collaboration extended beyond borders, leveraging the similarities and differences in approaches to find solutions. Breda, located on the border of the Netherlands and Flanders, facilitated knowledge exchange and collaboration. The event provided a valuable opportunity for learning and collaboration between the two regions.
The urban energy transition is crucial for a sustainable future. To support this transition, Digital Twins are employed in an increasing fashion, providing decision makers with data-driven insights from mainly technological perspectives. Based on a case study of a neighbourhood in a Dutch municipality, we argue the need to address social perspectives more explicitly while employing Digital Twins. To this end, we identify three potential strategies for an integrated socio-technological approach for Digital Twins. These strategies are modelling social characteristics at a macro-economic scale, involving stakeholders in participatory approaches, and finally explicitly modelling stakeholder behaviour. Given its promise for our case study, we elaborate this last strategy with a conceptual method that aims to explicitly model citizens’ decision-making processes through an agent-based modelling approach.
