Democratic governance requires modernizing citizen participation and public engagement strategies due to their vital role in ensuring that governance reflects public values. The challenge here is the integration of these concepts with digital technologies to enhance transparency, trust, and collaboration between governments and citizens, especially within Local Digital Twins projects. To address this challenge, a structured approach involving the definition and differentiation of citizen participation and public engagement is proposed. This involves leveraging frameworks like Arnstein’s Ladder of Participation and Rowe and Frewer’s engagement categories. By doing so, a blend of traditional and digital methods can be utilized to effectively engage citizens in governance processes, ensuring their influence and dialogue. This learning unit introduces foundational concepts, framing citizen participation and public engagement as essential democratic processes. It covers the definitions, stages, and core principles of these concepts, emphasizing their adaptability in the digital age. The curriculum aims to equip learners with the knowledge to implement these strategies effectively, particularly in digital governance initiatives like Local Digital Twins.