Enabling Positive Energy District and Climate-Neutral Cities: Data, Governance and Flexibility

District-scale energy systems are increasingly recognized as a operational level for advancing climate neutrality in cities. Climate-Neutral Districts (CNDs) and Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) provide complementary frameworks to support this transition, combining distributed energy generation, sector coupling, and demand-side management. Although their conceptual foundations are relatively mature, implementation remains fragmented and difficult to scale. This is largely due to three systemic challenges:• fragmented data models, standards, and interfaces limit interoperability across heterogeneous platforms;• misalignment between governance and energy system requirements; • the underexploited flexibility potentials at building and district level. Against this background, the Research Topic focuses on these energy-relevant enabling conditions, framing districts as active nodes within wider energy systems, rather than isolated urban projects.Goal: The Topic aims to advance knowledge on how district-scale energy systems can be effectively implemented by:• improving data interoperability and open standards for smart energy systems; • analyzing governance and institutional arrangements (including Public-Private Partnerships and policy tools such as Climate City Contracts) in relation to energy system performance; • investigating energy communities and user engagement as drivers of demand-side flexibility; • exploring technical solutions for flexibility, including predictive control, thermal storage, and sector coupling; • providing empirical evidence from case studies and living labs supporting PED and CND implementation;• analyzing the Stakeholder Ecosystem with particular attention to core, enabling, involved and marginal ones within multilevel governance framework.Indicative Themes and Contributions:1. Data and Interoperability for Energy Systems• standardization of data models and schemas in multi-energy systems;• approaches to improving interoperability within smart energy communities;• considerations on open data standards and data quality in district-scale energy modelling;• experiences in integrating multi-vector energy data platforms.2. Governance and Market Integration• governance models supporting district energy systems, including Public-Private Partnerships;• the role of Climate City Contracts as operational implementation tools;• regulatory and market-related challenges affecting PED deployment.3. Energy Communities and Demand-Side Dynamics• insights into user engagement and behavioral dimensions not limited to energy communities;• developments in local energy markets and collaborative economic arrangements;• factors influencing social acceptance of district-level energy systems.4. Flexibility and Control Strategies• opportunities for leveraging thermal and electric flexibility at building and district levels;• applications of predictive control and demand response mechanisms;• integration of cooling at district/city level;• integration pathways for storage technologies and sector coupling solutions.5. Implementation of PEDs and CNCs• evidence and lessons learned from European city case studies;• pathways from pilot initiatives to scalable system solutions;• methods for replication and performance evaluation;• strategies for heating and cooling at district/city level;• stakeholder engagement processes within multi-level governance settings.Expected Contribution and Impact:This Research Topic contributes to bridge the gap between conceptual frameworks and operational energy systems, by focusing on the integration of data, governance, and flexibility mechanisms.It aims to support the development of:• the development of interoperable and data-informed district energy systems;• the consolidation of institutionally robust and scalable implementation models;• the advancement of flexibility-oriented solutions capable of improving efficiency and resilience;• the identification of evidence-based pathways to support the scaling of PEDs and CNDs across European and international contexts. Topic editors: Paola Clerici Maestosi, GIOVANNI SEMPRINI, Ghazal Etminan Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80823/enabling-positive-energy-district-and-climate-neutral-cities-data-governance-and-flexibility