Description (EN): The Alpine region must tackle rising energy consumption and, accordingly, CO2 emissions reduction, related mostly to heating needs (mainly from residential and tourism sectors). The potential of renewable energy sources to handle this energy requirement has been discussed in some recent studies. However, the opportunity to utilize Near-Surface Geothermal Energy (NSGE) has not yet been properly highlighted. Moreover, differences in country-specific regulations and practices currently impede a successful increase of use of this technology.The aim of the GRETA project is to demonstrate the potential of NSGE in the Alpine Space and to foster its integration into future energy plans at different administrative levels. For this purpose, transnational-congruent criteria will be defined for the efficient implementation and operation of NSGE systems. The same criteria will also be implemented to develop a spatial explicit assessment of the potential (technical, economic, environmental, social) of these systems in the Alpine region. The country-specific regulations and practices will be reviewed and the best-practice specifications will be summarized into guidelines through close interaction and continuous feedback with relevant stakeholders. The outputs of the project will serve to promote and guide the implementation of shallow geothermal energy into policy instruments, e.g., the energy plans of municipalities or planning bureaus. Expected Results (EN): Level of Implementation of low carbon policy instruments Expected Outputs (EN): The main results of the project are decision support tools (geothermal potential maps, guidelines for energy planning), legal and technical guidelines for the utilization of Near-Surface Geothermal Energy (NSGE), based on an exchange of best practices. These results will encourage the implementation of NSGE into policy instruments (e.g., energy plans) at different administrative levels and will raise the awareness of the potential of this low carbon energy source among different stakeholders.