The global energy transition has created an urgent need for new ways to think about value creation. As cities move toward climate neutrality, traditional business models no longer fit the realities of shared energy systems, citizen participation, and social affordability.
As a response to this shift, ASCEND has created workshops that help cities prototype, test, and refine their PCED business model strategies before implementation.
At the core of this environment is the PCED Business Model Assembler, a physical card game, mirrored in a digital tool, that allows cities to co-create viable business, governance, and operational models in real time. Instead of relying on static planning, the Assembler turns the PCED development process into a collaborative, iterative, and evidence-based workflow.
Through a guided process, cities look at:
- Which governance model fits their district;
- How value flows between stakeholders;
- Which risks emerge under different scenarios
- How to scale or replicate successful models in new districts
For cities, it creates a risk-free, physical or digital sandbox where city representatives can experiment without financial risk and build a shared language for decision-making. By combining different business model patterns, participants explore who their customers are, what value they provide, how they deliver it, and why it creates lasting impact.
The results reveal that successful PCEDs depend as much on governance, participation, and trust as they do on technology and funding.
Bringing Governance, Business Models & Financing Together
One of ASCEND’s most important learnings is that PCED deployment breaks down when governance, business models, and financing are designed separately.
The Assembler helps cities reconnect these elements:
Governance determines who coordinates the district.
Business models determine how the district creates, delivers, and captures value.
Financing logic determines what can actually be scaled.
By being able to test business models in workshops and digitally, cities reduce uncertainties, accelerate decision-making, and create investment-ready concepts that can move beyond the pilot stage.
This is the next generation of Positive Clean Energy Districts: designed digitally, governed intelligently, and designed to scale.
