• Smart communicative city planning: Combining participatory and collaborative approach to urban planning supported by computational planning methods and tools. It focuses on usable digital tools and methods (e.g., PPGIS and 3D city models) that make it easier to understand the possible design options for residents and local decision-makers. 
• Smart human living data: Multi-perspective, participatory data collection and analysis from the usage and users of urban space using variety of digital tools.  
• Smart lighting systems: Developing adaptive and sensor-driven smart lighting systems that utilise real time data to enhance the functionality, sustainability, and aesthetics of urban environments. 
• Smart support systems: Co-developed planning and decision support systems for smart city planning and visioning, including a smart planning room, effective utilisation of smart data sources, such as smart human living data. 
• Qualities of the built environment: Smart communicative city planning enables rethinking and integrating the diverse qualities of urban spaces and makes these quality perspectives visible and debatable. 
• Bio-digital architecture and urban design: Offering an experimental approach to designing the built environment from a simultaneously biological and digital perspective, including circular bio-economy. 
• Smart urban space solutions: Life-centric solutions for a smart, livable city and its services, including digital and cyber-physical solutions for the analytics and planning for vegetated environments and biodiverse urban nature. 

• Dr. Henna Fabritius: Senior Research Fellow. FinEst Centre, TalTech
• Dr. Ciprian Briciu-Burghina: Research Fellow, FinEst Centre, TalTech
• Dr. Viktorija Prilenska: Research fellow, FinEst Centre, TalTech
• Silver Sternfeldt: Environmental psychologist
• Dr. Pilvi Nummi: Aalto University
• Petri Kangassalo:Early-stage researcher, Aalto University
• D.Sc. Staffans Aija: Aalto University
• Prof. Marketta Kyttä: Aalto University
• Dmitrii Ingi: Early-stage researcher, Aalto University
• Dr. Pramod Bhusal: Aalto University

• GreenTwins: Tallinn-Helsinki Dynamic Green Information Model
• UrbanLIFEcircles

Find all academic publications here.

• Intelligent & Sustainable Energy Solutions will serve as a multidisciplinary platform to co-create and validate scalable energy innovations tailored to real-world urban contexts. By combining the expertise of researchers, data scientists, policy experts, and industry partners, this theme addresses the critical challenges of reliability, resilience, affordability, and sustainability in energy systems.
• Collaborations will focus on digital twin integration: Collecting and analysing data from smart meters, IoT sensors, and energy markets to enable evidence-based policy and near real-time optimization. We will pilot solutions that enhance renewable energy integration, optimize energy storage and distribution, and promote active citizen engagement for demand-response programs. Close links with other themes, like Smart Mobility and Urban Sustainability, will drive holistic city-wide transformations.
• Enabling municipalities, businesses, and citizens to accelerate their journey towards carbon-neutral energy systems, with a strong emphasis on user-centric design, transparency, and economic feasibility. We aim to deliver knowledge, demonstrable pilot projects, and policy recommendations that shape the future of smart energy in Estonia and beyond. 

• Prof. Argo Rosin: Tenured Full Professor, Vice-Dean for Research, TalTech
• Dr. Tarmo Korõtko: Senior Researcher
• Prof. Einari Kisel: Professor of Practice in Energy Policies. FinEst Centre, TalTech
• Dr. Kaija Veskioja: Researcher, FinEst Centre, TalTech

• Microgrids and Energy Storage, DSxOS Platform for smart energy resource management
• DigiAudit, Smart Energy Audit for Buildings Solution
• FLEdge

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• AI & Data Governance: Building capacity within municipalities to adopt ethical, effective data governance and leverage AI responsibly. 

• Data Spaces & Interoperability: Exploring frameworks for secure, interoperable data sharing across sectors, enabling smart community solutions. 

• Local Digital Twins: Investigating the development and application of digital twin technologies to support local planning and decision-making. 

• Public-Private Data Access & Sharing: Facilitating collaboration between public and private sector to improve data accessibility and innovation potential. Further, the group focuses on valuable data sources across domains and promoting their application in urban innovation projects. 

• Dr. Anniki Puura: Postdoctoral Researcher. FinEst Centre, TalTech
• Dr. Henna Fabritius: Senior Research Fellow. FinEst Centre, TalTech
• Dr. Avleen Malhi: Adjunct Professor. FinEst Centre, TalTech
• Prof. Einari Kisel: Professor of Practice in Energy Policies. FinEst Centre, TalTech
• Farah Hisham Abdelfattah Elbehairy: Early Stage Researcher. FinEst Centre, TalTech
• Laura Mrosla: Early Stage Researcher. FinEst Centre, TalTech 
• Francesco Tonnarelli: Early Stage Researcher. FinEst Centre, TalTech 
• Sara Thabit Gonzalez: Early Stage Researcher. TalTech 
• Carina Bitšikov: Project coordinator. FinEst Centre, TalTech

• DS4SSCC-DEP – deployment project for European data space for smart communities 

• FinEst Twins and its individual large-scale pilot projects 

• Smart Communities Network 

Find all academic publications here.

• Climate Governance/Green Transition: Climate change and environmental challenges pose significant threats worldwide. Transformation into a sustainable and environmentally friendly economy and broader socio-techno-institutional systems is inevitable and needs input from all stakeholders, sectors, and governance levels. We investigate these changes and accompanying challenges and opportunities from political, societal, technological, and economic perspectives. 
• Innovation Governance/Digital Transition: This area explores how cities can strategically leverage digital tools and mechanisms to enhance efficiency, improve public services, foster innovation, and build more resilient and responsive governance systems. We investigate the policies, frameworks, and capacities required/used to navigate this ongoing transformation effectively, ensuring digital advancements contribute to an equitable and more sustainable future.

• Dominik Beckers: Early-stage researcher, FinEst Centre.
  With experience in public policy consulting. Dominik’s research and interests include innovation management and intermediation, strategy and organisational development, transboundary knowledge and resource flows, ethics and justice in smart cities. 
• Dr. Lita Akmentina: Cities Expert & Researcher, FinEst Centre.
  Lita is working within the NetZeroCities platform, where she currently co-designs and facilitates the Twinning Learning Programme and researches city-to-city learning and transition ecosystems in support of the EU Mission: Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030. She is also interested in citizen engagement, particularly e-participation, sustainable urban planning, and the preconditions for the successful replication of city practices. 
• Farah Hisham Abdelfattah Elbehairy: Early-stage researcher, FinEst Centre. Farah’s PhD research focuses on building capacities and governance mechanisms for sustainable smart city transitions, particularly the role of the public sector, as well as data governance and AI practices within public organizations. She explores capacity-building approaches needed to address institutional and administrative gaps to ensure smart city transitions (e.g., changes in institutional structures, culture, systems, and roles, as well as introducing new staff, infrastructure, public procurement, and upskilling processes), adopting a cross-disciplinary approach that connects theories from smart city research, innovation studies, and public administration. 
• Dr. Kaija Veskioja: Researcher, FinEst Centre.
  Kaija’s research interests include governance and management of sustainability transitions, capacities and capabilities of local and central government in managing transitions, upscaling urban experiments and financing green transitions. 
• Francesco Tonnarelli: Early-stage researcher, FinEst Centre.
  He conducts research on the governance mechanisms of smart city transition and their impact on urban planning and service delivery in the Global South and small urban contexts. 
• Dr. Luiza Schuch de Azambuja: Researcher, FinEst Centre.
  Working within the NetZeroCities platform as a Twinning Learning Programme facilitator. Luiza defended her PhD Thesis in 2024, titled “Exploring the Journey towards Smarter Sustainable Cities: Capacity Development for Evolving Governance Practices” which reflects her past research in the field. Her current research interests include smart sustainable city strategies, city resilience, capacity building, knowledge exchange among cities, and collective intelligence.  
• Dr. Jelizaveta Krenjova-Cepilova: Researcher and project manager, FinEst Centre.  Jelizaveta is interested in upscaling and replication of innovative practices to other settings. Her PhD thesis explored the applicability of different practices of participatory budgeting in various contexts. Hence, the topic of participation and public involvement remains fascinating for her. 

• TREASoURce 
• NetZeroCities
• FINEST SCALEUP
• Finex
• Cap4City 
• Urban Learning Center

Find all academic publications here.

Project publications

• TREASoURcE Project Brief (2025): “Evaluating Transferability of the Digital Marketplace: Estonian Perspective”

• Beckers, D., et al. (2023). Managing Smart City Governance: A Playbook for local and regional governments. Nairobi, Kenya, UN-Habitat & CAF

Scientific publications 

• Beckers, D. and L. Mora (2025). Overcoming the Smart City Governance Challenge: An Innovation Management Perspective. Journal of Urban Technology: 1-22. 

• Mora, L., et al. (2025). Smart City Code: Governance Handbook for Digital Transformation Managers in the Public Sector. Elsevier. 

• Raudla, R., Spendzharova, A. and Veskioja, K. (2025). How policy capacities shape the green transition: explaining the use of EU sustainable finance in the EU’s Central and Eastern European member states.  Journal of European Public Policy, pp. 1–25. 

• Azambuja, L. (2024). Exploring the Journey towards Smarter Sustainable Cities: Capacity Development for Evolving Governance Practices [TalTech Press].
  
• Soe, R.-M. (2023). Replication and UpScaling of Smart Cities in Academia and Practice: Concepts, Barriers and Enablers. dg.o ’23: Proceedings of the 24th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research.
  
• Pereira, G. V., & Azambuja, L. S. (2022). Smart Sustainable City Roadmap as a Tool for Addressing Sustainability Challenges and Building Governance Capacity. Sustainability (Switzerland), 14(1), 1–22. 

• Azambuja, L. S. (2021). Drivers and Barriers for the development of Smart Sustainable Cities: A Systematic Literature Review. Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV2021). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 422–428. 

• Azambuja, L. S., Pereira, G. V., & Krimmer, R. (2020). Clearing the existing fog over the smart sustainable city concept: Highlighting the Importance of Governance. Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance, 628–637.  

• Intelligent and Integrated Mobility Systems: Developing ecosystems with ITS, real-time traffic management, and multi-modal solutions for seamless, efficient mobility.  
• Sustainable and Low-Carbon Transportation: Promoting sustainable practices, EV infrastructure, and green urban design while supporting walking and cycling.  
• Innovative Mobility Technologies: Testing autonomous vehicles and smart city platforms to transform transport systems.  
• Equitable Access to Mobility: Ensuring solutions address diverse needs, fostering inclusivity and public engagement.  

• Dr. Anniki Puura: Postdoctoral researcher, FinEst Centre.
  With a background in human geography and regional planning, along with long-term membership in the MobilityLab at the University of Tartu, expertise has been developed in utilising mobile positioning data to analyse spatial mobility – ranging from individual-level behavior to broader societal and spatial processes. This includes practical experience in leveraging mobile phone-based data for analysis and the development of innovative tools and solutions. Currently working as a postdoctoral researcher with a focus on mobility and data-related research, while also contributing part-time to a project deploying the European Data Space for Smart Communities. 
• Adj. Prof Mauro Bellone: Adjunct Professor, FinEst Centre.
  An expert in autonomous driving, smart mobility and intelligent transport systems. Mauro’s research focuses on autonomous vehicle perception, AI-driven transport optimisation and urban mobility solutions. He has contributed to sensor fusion, digital twins and cybersecurity for self-driving vehicles. His work at university highlights his role in advancing automation, robotics and AI for smart cities. 
• Dr. Kalle Toiskallio: Head of Research Delivery, FinEst Centre.
  What is smart city? Social, cultural and other larger aspects of emergent transport and traffic technologies and concepts, especially the obvious obstacles of self-driven vehicles and Mobility-as-a-Service. Parking consultant. 
• Pauline Baudens: Early-stage researcher, FinEst Centre, TalTech.
  Working on a PhD thesis title „Unequal access of women to the digitalisation of transport. Reconsideration of the inclusive Smart City in Pune in India“

• Future Mobility Ecosystem project developed an Autonomous Vehicles Safety toolkit
• XTRUST-6G
• PLIADES
• DS4SSCC-DEP – European data space for smart communities 

Find all academic publications here.