AquaSavvy is a project about bringing water sensitive urban design into digital twins of cities, creating a visual canvas tool through and for participatory planning perspectives.
Challenges addressed
Water infrastructure and governance are often hidden until a crisis hits. AquaSavvy addresses the invisibility of modern water systems by bringing together data science, urban planning, and community engagement into a visual and interactive tool. This tool integrates water-sensitive urban design into digital twins, with the potential to transform how cities manage water. The project uses participatory methods and co-design to highlight the dynamics around water governance and support local decision-making and engagement. AquaSavvy combines systems-of-systems data engineering, urban resource flows, and stakeholder collaboration to develop this web-based tool that facilitates dialogue across sectors.
Solutions proposed
The project is implemented through Living Labs in Orø (Denmark) and along the Nilüfer stream in Bursa (Türkiye). These pilots inform tool development and are followed by virtual labs in Portugal, Sweden, and South Africa as well as a global competition.
Technically, AquaSavvy collects diverse data, integrates it into a system-of-systems, and translates it into accessible visualisations, supported by an AI module to provide context-aware responses and guide unassisted global use.
AquaSavvy differs from traditional digital twins in three ways. First, it investigates how to collect data from local actors with experience-based expertise. Second, it focuses on human-centred use, incorporating social, spatial, and environmental aspects into planning. Third, it adopts a curated, game-like interface that invites interaction and experimentation. The technical integration uses evolutionary architecture (IPSME) to connect data from varied sources for visualisations, without the need for standardised protocols.
Expected results
By creating an interactive, web-based digital twin—a virtual model of urban water flows—the project makes water systems visible and understandable to everyone, from city planners to residents. This visual tool acts as a bridge, connecting diverse groups to discuss and shape water-sensitive urban designs, enabling faster, more local solutions compared to traditional, decades-long urban projects.
Insights from the Living Labs will refine the tool for global use, allowing people worldwide to use it independently. This reflects an innovative co-development, showing a people-centric approach to technical development. A worldwide competition will invite people to explore and apply the tool, sparking curiosity and collaboration. AquaSavvy empowers communities to rethink urban water systems, fostering sustainable, inclusive cities.
The tool will be evaluated for use in other contexts, for example sustainable tourism, to facilitate new values of technical development in communities, facilitating sustainable practices, and allowing stakeholders to engage in water optimization for circular practices, together.