BLUEPRINT

BLUEPRINT – Building Living Urban Ecosystems through Participatory Renovation and Innovation Tools

BLUEPRINT aims to combine technological innovation with participatory processes in digital solutions that foster greater citizens’ and stakeholders’ engagement and drive the adoption of sustainable renovation practices.

The transition to a climate-neutral and resilient Europe demands a radical transformation of our built environment — not just through technical renovation, but through systemic, participatory change. BLUEPRINT reimagines how cities evolve by integrating advanced digital tools with inclusive design processes.

Europe’s building stock, neighborhoods, and districts must be redesigned to support sustainable energy systems, equitable mobility, and climate adaptation. However, traditional urban planning and participatory platforms often struggle to meaningfully include diverse voices — from low-income communities and migrants to the elderly, children, and people with disabilities. BLUEPRINT bridges this gap by combining immersive technologies with low-tech participatory methods to ensure that no one is left behind in shaping the cities of tomorrow.

At its core, BLUEPRINT uses Digital Twins (DTs) — dynamic, data-driven models of buildings and urban areas — enhanced by virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) and participatory digital tools. These technologies enable citizens, designers, and decision-makers to collaboratively visualize, simulate, and test renovation and mobility scenarios in real time. Through intuitive interfaces and interactive engagement, stakeholders can explore options for energy use, sustainable transport, and climate adaptation, fostering shared understanding and informed decision-making. Complementing this high-tech approach, BLUEPRINT also embraces inclusive, analog participation methods to reach communities with limited digital access — reinforcing its commitment to the “leave no one behind” principle.

The project will demonstrate its innovative solutions across five real-world pilot sites in Ballaghaderreen (Ireland), Issy-les-Moulineaux (France), Athens (Greece), Budapest (Hungary), and Benetutti (Italy). These pilots tackle diverse challenges, from energy-efficient building renovation and sustainable mobility to climate resilience and public space revitalization.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 101235708