Many municipalities / regions in Germany and worldwide have set the goal of  Renewable Energy Self-sufficiency (RESS). The overall objective of the project "EE-regions" was to identify conflicts in such processes and to show possible solutions and conditions for success. The question at the forefront was, how RESS can be reached in a socially just and ecologically sound way. For this purpose five building blocks are interconnected and involve the following topics: I. Key-actors and organizational design models, II. technical energy concepts and economic effects, III. Land use conflicts and biodiversity, IV. Citizen-participation and acceptance, V. Reduction of energy consumption and new models of prosperity. An emphasis was placed on the integrated use of biomass. The interdisciplinary team closely worked with the districts of Schwäbisch Hall and Lüchow-Dannenberg and the municipalities Morbach and Wolpertshausen – regions, in which the expansion of renewable energies was already well advanced. In transdisciplinary exchange these challenges have been specified and potential solutions derived. In addition, the project team developed a guide that provides assistance to other municipalities to create a just and ecologically sound energy system. This includes taking over responsibility not only at regional but also at national and global level. Through international case studies, the transferability of the results of the German cases to other countries was also examined.