Implementing heat infrastructure planning robustly (W-rob)

A transdisciplinary project for a socially robust heat transition

Welcome!

The decarbonization of our heating supply presents us as a society with a major challenge. Cities and municipalities currently have an important key role to play in this task: they must coordinate the conversion of the heat supply and thus create planning security for all stakeholders.

The “Implementing heat infrastructure planning robustly – W-rob” project supports municipal stakeholders in overcoming the biggest challenges currently facing heat infrastructure planning in the best possible way – through a socially robust implementation of heat infrastructure planning. This means:

the planning is carried out in a methodically comprehensible, transparent and legally compliant manner (process design)
the results are accepted and not regarded as unfair (content/results)
Private actors that are not directly regulated also participate in the implementation of locally prioritized measures in a trusting and timely manner (activation for implementation).

Latest News

08.06.2026

Preliminary results from W-rob: Eleven short studies on socially robust heating planning

As an interim result of W-rob’s work to date, the project team has produced eleven brief studies on key challenges to a socially robust implementation of heat planning.
These brief studies are based on findings from surveys, interviews, literature reviews, and joint workshops with numerous partners in the field.

To the brief studies

17.06.2026

Core Team Meeting in Marburg

On June 8 and 9, 2026, the W-rob core team (Universities of Freiburg and Marburg, + next economy lab) met in Marburg to review progress, exchange ideas, and plan for the future.
We’re already more than halfway through our project, “Robust Implementation of Heating Planning.” It’s the perfect time to pause and reflect: What have we accomplished? And where do we want to go from here?
A particular highlight for many of us was the way our practice partners contributed to the eleven short studies, which we were able to publish as our first project results. Thank you to everyone involved!
Now we’re looking forward to planning and implementing the interventions—co-created with practitioners—in our three model municipalities:
Bad Nauheim: Ensuring trust in heating planning despite planning uncertainties and a complex starting point in the city center
Freiburg: Communicating the costs, pricing structure, and price trends of district heating in a transparent and trust-building manner
Intermunicipal: Securing the heating transition even amid municipal financial constraints.
But we weren’t just focused on looking ahead to the future. There was also ample opportunity for substantive discussion. During the colloquium on the second day, we discussed topics ranging from the changing legal framework of the heating transition to the motivations and barriers faced by specific groups, and even a transdisciplinary concept for socially robust heating planning.
Once again, it became clear: When different disciplines and practitioners work together to address the same problem, they are able to develop a much richer picture than any of them could provide on their own. That is exactly what makes this project so special.

Previous Communications

Häuser, Bäume und Felder im Smog gehüllt

Project

More about the project

Network

The core team of W-rob includes:

apl. Prof. Dr. Philipp Späth (Freiburg University)
Prof. Dr. Cathrin Zengerling (Freiburg University)
Prof. Dr. Sören Becker (Marburg University)
Hannah Stroebel (NELA e.V. Next Economy Lab)

Contractors are:

Baumann Rechtsanwälte
Stadtwerke Konstanz GmbH
Umwelt- und Energieagentur Kreis Karlsruhe
GEF Ingenieur AG

Practice Partners are:

11 municipalities in Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia
4 energy agencies: KWW, KEA-BW, UEA Kreis Karlsruhe, EA-Regio Freiburg
BadenovaWÄRMEPLUS

More about the network

Results

The project produces the following results:

Specifically formulated, practical recommendations for action for those responsible for planning, grid operators and civil society groups for the robust design of the process, content and implementation of heat infrastructure planning.
Policy recommendations: Regulatory options that facilitate decarbonization.
Communication of further research needs.

As an interim result of W-rob’s work to date, the team, in collaboration with its practice partners, has developed the following brief studies on key challenges (in German) to a socially resilient implementation of heat planning. These brief studies are based on findings from surveys, interviews, literature reviews, and joint workshops with the practice partners.