By the end of 2025 we were able – with the support of German Federal Foundation for the Environmentthe Michael Otto Foundation for Sustainability and the Mercator Foundation – a new round Municipal Development Councils tender, this time with a thematic focus on municipal heat planning. Municipalities throughout Germany were invited to apply to participate in the project through an open call.
We were delighted with the large number of applications. The response shows that the topic of the heat transition is of concern to many municipalities and that there is a great desire for new formats for exchange, participation and collaboration.
The selection of the municipalities was made by a jury composed of the German Association of Cities and Municipalities, and Competence Centre for Municipal Energy Transition of the dena, as well as the sponsors and the Municipal Development Councils Advisory Board.
In the end, four municipalities were chosen, who particularly impressed us with their applications and planned focal points:
Bremerhaven (Bremen)
Hanau (Hesse)
Oldenburg (Lower Saxony)
Radevormwald (North Rhine-Westphalia)
The political bodies in all four municipalities have now resolved to implement the Municipal Development Advisory Boards. This means we can now officially begin our collaboration.
The first planning groups have already convened in Oldenburg and Radevormwald. There, the remit for the development advisory boards will be further refined. A stakeholder mapping will also be used to determine which perspectives should be represented on the advisory board and how it can be composed.
We look forward to working with the four municipalities and to jointly shaping the next steps of the development advisory boards.