Changing economics of fossil fuels and the energy transition away from coal poses a challenge for coal mining regions. The Ruhr Area in Germany already has undergone this transition and holds valuable lessons both for structural transition and for municipal energy transition that are of relevance to Chinese coal or industrial regions that are facing similar changes. The Sino-German Climate Partnership has gathered these lessons learnt in a publication that also contains three cities as case studies – Bottrop, Essen and Dortmund.