Co-creation and Shared Governance in Urban Energy Transition: Early Insights from Luxembourg’s Digital Twin for Multi-Stakeholder Decision-Making

Decision-making in the energy sector has traditionally been guided by centralized, technocratic structures that often neglect community knowledge, social values, and spatial contexts. This study examines how principles from urban planning and transition studies can inform co-creative governance frameworks that foster more inclusive energy transitions. Drawing on the project Data-Driven Energy Transition (D2ET), it explores how a Digital Twin platform, developed through a Living Lab process in Luxembourg, can enhance participatory decision-making and local governance capacities. The research combines pre-workshops, twelve stakeholder interviews, and three Living Lab sessions conducted between June and December 2025 to identify key governance challenges and opportunities. Findings reveal that fragmented data systems, regulatory uncertainty, and limited citizen engagement continue to constrain collaborative governance, while stakeholders emphasize the importance of accessible data, stable institutional arrangements, and transparent coordination. The study argues that Digital Twins, when embedded in co-creation processes, can act as integrative tools aligning technical, regulatory, and social dimensions of urban transitions. By linking insights from urban planning, governance, and transition studies, the paper contributes to understanding how digital and participatory infrastructures can support shared governance for sustainable urban futures.