DestinE Platform: Transforming Earth System Science into Actionable Services

Destination Earth (DestinE) is Europe’s flagship initiative for developing high-precision digital twins of the Earth system, enabling the simulation, monitoring, and prediction of natural phenomena and human activities. Coordinated by ECMWF, ESA, and EUMETSAT, DestinE brings together advanced Earth system models, comprehensive Earth observation data, Artificial Intelligence, and Europe’s leading supercomputing infrastructure to deliver actionable, decision-ready information for a wide range of users. Its overarching goal is to support climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and sustainable development by translating complex scientific outputs into practical tools. 

DestinE is built around modular Digital Twin components representing the atmosphere, oceans, land, and human activities. These components provide high-resolution simulations, near-real-time monitoring, and predictive analytics that can be combined and tailored to specific user needs. AI-driven methods enhance forecast skill, detect emerging risks, and reveal cascading impacts across environmental and socio-economic systems, enabling users to better anticipate and manage complex challenges. 

A core pillar of the DestinE Platform is its onboarding process, designed to ensure accessibility, usability, and long-term engagement. Onboarding supports users from first contact through to operational use, offering guided access to the platform, clear documentation, asynchronous support channels and videos to provide a flexible introduction to the onboarding integration process. User needs and levels of expertise are assessed early in the process, allowing stakeholders to be directed toward the most relevant Digital Twin components, data services, and interfaces. This structured approach enables users to progressively build capacity, moving from exploration and testing to confident use of DestinE services in real-world decision-making contexts. 

The DestinE Platform provides a suite of integrated, user-oriented services, including: 

• Real-time environmental monitoring, delivering continuous updates to support situational awareness and rapid hazard assessment. 

• Scenario-based simulation services, allowing users to explore short- and long-term developments such as extreme weather events, floods, climate adaptation pathways, or the impacts of human activities. 

• Predictive analytics and early warning tools, using AI to anticipate risks and support timely, informed responses. 

• Interactive decision-support interfaces, enabling users to explore data, customize simulations, and test policy or management options in a virtual environment. 

• Co-design and customisation services, closely linked to onboarding, which allow users to adapt DestinE capabilities to regional, sectoral, or organizational contexts, supported by ongoing expert guidance. 

DestinE builds on and connects with complementary European initiatives, including ESA’s Digital Twin Earth programme, Horizon Europe projects, and national efforts, ensuring scientific robustness and operational relevance. 

This abstract invites contributions that showcase user experiences with DestinE, including onboarding pathways, co-design approaches, and practical applications such as emergency planning, urban resilience, or marine and hydrological management. Emphasis is placed on how user engagement and onboarding enable the effective translation of advanced Earth system science into actionable insights. 

By focusing on users, services, and onboarding, DestinE demonstrates how digital twins can empower stakeholders, support evidence-based decisions, and strengthen societal resilience in the face of environmental and climatic challenges.