Games, Participation, and Digital Twins in the Transition to a Sustainable Future

Creative Crowd recently had the opportunity to participate in a discussion hosted by Viable Cities on Skellefteå's ongoing transition journey. Representing the company, CEO Johan Linder joined a panel conversation alongside Karin Degerfeldt from Skellefteå Municipality and Viktoria Wistemar from Hej Främling to explore how engagement and participation can support sustainable societal transformation.

One key theme emerged throughout the discussion: meaningful transformation happens when people are not only informed about change but are actively involved in shaping it.

At Creative Crowd, this perspective is closely connected to our work with Games for Impact. Through game design and interactive experiences, we see how complex challenges can become more understandable, accessible, and engaging. Games provide opportunities for people to explore scenarios, collaborate with others, test ideas, and experience the consequences of decisions in ways that traditional communication methods often cannot.

Whether addressing sustainability, inclusion, public health, or community development, a common challenge is moving beyond awareness toward active participation. Creating opportunities for people to engage directly with issues helps foster deeper understanding, stronger connections, and a greater sense of ownership in the outcomes.

The discussion also explored the growing potential of digital twins as tools for dialogue, participation, and collaborative decision-making. By creating interactive representations of places, systems, and future scenarios, digital twins can help make complex topics more accessible to citizens, organizations, and decision-makers alike. These technologies offer new ways to visualize challenges, explore alternatives, and support more informed discussions about the future development of communities and regions.

As societies face increasingly complex transitions, innovative approaches to engagement become increasingly important. Technology alone is not enough; meaningful progress depends on creating opportunities for people to understand, contribute to, and help shape the changes that affect their lives.

We would like to thank Viable Cities, our fellow panel participants, and everyone who contributed to the discussion. Conversations like these highlight the importance of collaboration, participation, and innovation as we work together to build more sustainable and inclusive communities for the future.