The City4Climate consortium met today in Guimarães to discuss the next steps of the project, which aims to harness Digital Twin technology to support urban climate governance and accelerate the transition to carbon neutrality.

During the meeting, partners presented the limitations of the GPC Protocol (Global Protocol for Community-Scale GHG Inventories) in measuring greenhouse gas emissions, highlighting the need to develop a new, more dynamic model. This model will be implemented in Lisbon, Porto, and Guimarães, with the broader goal of supporting cities in achieving their Climate Contracts, which foresee a significant decrease in emissions by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050.

The discussions also focused on the integration of urban data platforms, simulation tools, and climate action indicators, which will enable the creation of a Digital Twin framework for the three pilot cities. This virtual model will simulate scenarios related to energy, mobility, and air quality, providing municipalities with actionable insights for decision-making.

The project has attracted significant media attention this week:

• Jornal de Notícias highlighted the collaboration between Porto, Lisbon, and Guimarães as partners in reducing emissions (read here).

• Jornal de Guimarães emphasized the city’s commitment to carbon neutrality within the City4Climate initiative (read here).

• Jornal de Negócios described the project as playing a “SimCity at advanced level for the environment”, underlining how Lisbon, Porto, and Guimarães are using data and simulations to anticipate and mitigate climate impacts (read here).

With 15 partners across academia, municipalities, and industry, City4Climate is a collective effort to design scalable, replicable solutions for sustainable urban governance. Today’s meeting in Guimarães reaffirmed the city’s role as a living laboratory for innovation and climate action.

On July 8th, 2025, the City4Climate project officially launched with a kick-off meeting held at the Porto Innovation Hub, bringing together 15 partners from academia, municipalities, and the private sector. Coordinated by the NOVA Cidade – Urban Analytics Lab (NOVA IMS), the project will run from 2025 to 2026 with funding from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), with operational management by the Agency for State Technological Reform (ARTE) and co-funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).

About the Project

City4Climate aims to develop and implement a Digital Twin platform to support real-time climate governance in the cities of Lisbon, Porto, and Guimarães. By integrating live data, predictive analytics, and scenario simulation, the project will accelerate the transition to carbon neutrality and enhance urban resilience.

This initiative aligns with the European Mission of 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030 and with the National Strategy for Smart Territories, positioning Portugal at the forefront of climate innovation.

Key Challenges and Objectives

The project addresses the challenge of updating urban emissions monitoring systems in real time, ensuring faster, evidence-based policymaking. Its main objectives are to:

• Implement a Digital Twin architecture with real-time data, forecasts, and scenario simulations in Lisbon, Porto, and Guimarães.
• Empower partner cities (including Aveiro, Oeiras, and Famalicão) to adopt a replicable climate governance model.
• Develop a scalable and interoperable framework aligned with European standards, integrating data, indicators, and governance processes

Consortium Partners

The project gathers 15 partners including: Ubiwhere, Tek Privacy, Câmara Municipal de Aveiro, Câmara Municipal do Porto, Câmara Municipal de Famalicão, Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, Câmara Municipal de Guimarães, Porto Business School, Universidade de Aveiro, Lisboa E-Nova, Associação Porto Digital, AdEPorto, DevScope, and CCG/ZGDV ICT Innovation Institute.

Kick-off Meeting Highlights

The Porto meeting served to align strategies, tasks, and responsibilities across the eight main work packages, which cover project management, climate action process mapping, Digital Twin design and implementation, data governance, pilot testing, dissemination, and impact evaluation.

Through this collaboration, City4Climate aims not only to deliver cutting-edge technological solutions but also to create a replicable model for climate-smart governance that can inspire cities across Portugal and Europe.