Smart TwinVill

Rural communities in Europe face intensifying climate risks such as wildfires, floods, droughts and soil erosion, combined with demographic decline, service gaps and digital exclusion. Although they are vital for food production, biodiversity protection and ecosystem services, they often lack trusted, accessible tools to guide local adaptation and long-term investment. Although digitalisation has transformed cities and industries, rural communities remain underserved: existing tools are fragmented, top-down and disconnected from governance and finance. Smart TwinVill will address this gap by co-creating Digital Village Twins that combine environmental intelligence, participatory governance and innovative finance into practical tools for resilience. The platform will generate Resilience Scores that turn complex hazard models into transparent, auditable indicators. These will inform municipal planning, CAP eco-schemes and parametric insurance products, enabling rapid payouts and mobilising private capital for adaptation. Citizens, farmers, SMEs and public authorities will engage through immersive VillageVerse environments, co-design workshops and the Digital Village Academy, ensuring inclusiveness, gender-responsiveness and social trust. Demonstrations in three pilots—ClimateGuard (wildfire resilience), WaterWise (floods and droughts) and SoilHealth (erosion and fertility)—will validate the approach, while a Replication Toolkit and Open Call will expand it to diverse regions. By 2028, Smart TwinVill will deliver mature, finance-ready digital twins that support evidence-based policy, risk-informed investment and resilient rural economies. The project aligns with the EU Climate Adaptation Strategy, Biodiversity Strategy, Soil Strategy, CAP and Green Deal Data Space, showing how villages can become resilient, inclusive and attractive places to live, work and invest.