DISTRHEAT explores the potential of model predictive control on two different test sites: (i) the University Hospital of Ferrara (Italy) which is a medium-size DHC, and (ii) the district heating network of Västerås (Sweden) which is a large-size DHC. Furthermore, the project will not only deal with technology topics, but it will also analyze the social and economic impact of the proposed technology and address the potential barriers and opportunities to its diffusion.