Human-in-the-loop as part of the energy transition: from concept to practice
The key takeaways from the "human-in-the-loop" workshop held at Sustainable Places 2025 are now available. They draw on the insights of four EU-funded projects—DEDALUS, CRETE VALLEY, EnerTEF, and ENPOWER.
Digitalisation can only be truly transformative when it keeps humans at its core.
This was the guiding principle behind the workshop "Human-in-the-loop digitalisation for Europe's energy transition", organised by Fondazione ICONS—as leader of the DEDALUS dissemination and communication—under the umbrella of the Smart Energy Cluster during Sustainable Places 2025.
The workshop's main messages are captured in the document "Human-in-the-loop in the Frame of the Energy Transition—Key Takeaways".
The session brought together DEDALUS and three other EU-funded projects—CRETE VALLEY, EnerTEF, and ENPOWER—to explore how to move beyond the rhetorical use of the term human-in-the-loop and translate it into concrete, people-centred methodologies that support Europe's green and digital transitions.
Through an open and multidisciplinary exchange, participants discussed the barriers and enablers shaping the scalability of human-centred digitalisation, highlighting the crucial role of Social Sciences and Humanities, co-creation processes, and trust-building as prerequisites for social acceptance and long-term behavioural change.
Key insights include:
- Moving from concept to implementation by embedding user engagement and co-design from the very start.
- Recognising co-creation and SSH as the foundations of genuine human-centred innovation.
- Shifting from purely financial to social and intrinsic motivations, such as belonging and trust.
- Addressing the "language divide" between technical and social domains
- Scaling human-in-the-loop approaches from buildings to communities.
The workshop's conclusions call for a paradigm shift: digitalisation must empower people, not replace them.
Achieving this vision requires continuous collaboration between research, industry, policymakers, and citizens—ensuring that Europe's energy transition is not only smart but also inclusive, just, and profoundly human.
(Photo Credits: Fondazione ICONS)
Contacts
Coordinator:
Diego Arnone, Engineering S.p.A, diego.arnone@eng.it
Communication:
Ilaria Orfino, ICONS, ilaria.orfino@icons.it
Project website: DEDALUS HORIZON
LinkedIn: DEDALUS
YouTube: DEDALUS-EU
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/dedalus-eu.bsky.social
Mastodon: https://mastodon.energy/@DEDALUS
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