diff --git a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
index 9dadaa450..4afe44428 100644
--- a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
+++ b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ A few sentences and/or a bulleted list to describe and motivate the change:
 - [ ] docstring updated (if appropriate),
 - [ ] update user guide (if appropriate),
 - [ ] added tests,
-- [ ] added line to CHANGES.rst,
+- [ ] add a changelog entry in the `upcoming_changes` folder (see [`upcoming_changes/README.rst`](https://github.com/hyperspy/exspy/blob/main/upcoming_changes/README.rst)),
+- [ ] Check formatting of the changelog entry (and eventual user guide changes) in the `docs/readthedocs.org:exspy` build of this PR (link in github checks)
 - [ ] ready for review.
 
 ### Minimal example of the bug fix or the new feature
diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index 5387835a0..75f525b21 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -25,6 +25,20 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: get repository name
+        shell: bash
+        run: echo "REPOSITORY_NAME=${GITHUB_REPOSITORY#*/}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+      - name: Fetch tags upstream
+        if: ${{ github.repository_owner != 'hyperspy' }}
+        # Needs to fetch the tags from upstream to get the
+        # correct version with setuptools_scm
+        run: |
+          git remote add upstream https://github.com/hyperspy/${{ env.REPOSITORY_NAME }}.git
+          git fetch upstream --tags
 
       - uses: actions/setup-python@v4
         name: Install Python
@@ -37,7 +51,6 @@ jobs:
           pip --version
 
       - name: Install
-        shell: bash
         run: |
           pip install -e .[tests]
 
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ccb49562c..9b2aef230 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 doc/_build/*
 doc/auto_examples/*
+doc/sg_execution_times.rst
 build/*
 dist/*
 *egg-info*
diff --git a/.readthedocs.yaml b/.readthedocs.yaml
index 015d38882..f11b9ac62 100644
--- a/.readthedocs.yaml
+++ b/.readthedocs.yaml
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ build:
   os: ubuntu-22.04
   tools:
     python: "3.11"
+  jobs:
+    post_checkout:
+      - git fetch --unshallow || true
 
 # Build documentation in the docs/ directory with Sphinx
 sphinx:
@@ -20,8 +23,8 @@ formats:
   - htmlzip
 
 python:
-   install:
-      - method: pip
-        path: .
-        extra_requirements:
-           - doc
+  install:
+    - method: pip
+      path: .
+      extra_requirements:
+          - doc
diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 97ecc327c..3012caab3 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -2,10 +2,12 @@ Changelog
 *********
 
 Changelog entries for the development version are available at
-https://holospy.readthedocs.io/en/latest/changes.html
+https://exspy.readthedocs.io/en/latest/changes.html
 
-0.1.dev0 (UNRELEASED)
-=====================
+
+.. towncrier-draft-entries:: |release| [UNRELEASED]
+
+.. towncrier release notes start
 
 - Enable ``signal_range`` arguments when using ``subpixel=True`` in :py:meth:`~.signals.EELSSpectrum.align_zero_loss_peak` (`#7 <https://github.com/hyperspy/exspy/pull/7>`_)
 - Support for tabulated :ref:`Generalised Oscillator Strengths (GOS) <eels.GOS>` using the
diff --git a/doc/conf.py b/doc/conf.py
index 7c4ea7c78..7f459f6fa 100644
--- a/doc/conf.py
+++ b/doc/conf.py
@@ -14,9 +14,16 @@
 # import sys
 # sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath('.'))
 
+import hyperspy.api as hs
+import logging
 import numpydoc
 from packaging.version import Version
 
+
+# Set logging level to `ERROR` to avoid exspy warning in documentation
+hs.set_log_level("ERROR")
+
+
 # -- Project information -----------------------------------------------------
 
 project = "exSpy"
@@ -42,6 +49,7 @@
     "sphinx.ext.intersphinx",
     "sphinx.ext.napoleon",
     "sphinx_gallery.gen_gallery",
+    "sphinxcontrib.towncrier",
 ]
 
 linkcheck_ignore = [
@@ -147,3 +155,10 @@
 
 copybutton_prompt_text = r">>> |\.\.\. "
 copybutton_prompt_is_regexp = True
+
+# -- Options for towncrier_draft extension -----------------------------------
+
+# Options: draft/sphinx-version/sphinx-release
+towncrier_draft_autoversion_mode = "draft"
+towncrier_draft_include_empty = False
+towncrier_draft_working_directory = ".."
diff --git a/exspy/__init__.py b/exspy/__init__.py
index 61271b919..f3cf1bb7c 100644
--- a/exspy/__init__.py
+++ b/exspy/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +1,22 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2007-2023 The exSpy developers
+#
+# This file is part of exSpy.
+#
+# exSpy is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# exSpy is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with exSpy. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/#GPL>.
+
+from importlib.metadata import version
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from . import components
@@ -8,16 +27,29 @@
 from ._defaults_parser import preferences
 
 
-if Path(__file__).parent.parent.name == "site-packages":  # pragma: no cover
-    # Tested in the "build" workflow on GitHub CI
-    from importlib.metadata import version
+__version__ = version("exspy")
+
+# For development version, `setuptools_scm` will be used at build time
+# to get the dev version, in case of missing vcs information (git archive,
+# shallow repository), the fallback version defined in pyproject.toml will
+# be used
+
+# If we have an editable installed from a git repository try to use
+# `setuptools_scm` to find a more accurate version:
+# `importlib.metadata` will provide the version at installation
+# time and for editable version this may be different
 
-    __version__ = version("rosettasciio")
-else:
-    # Editable install
-    from setuptools_scm import get_version
+# we only do that if we have enough git history, e.g. not shallow checkout
+_root = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+if (_root / ".git").exists() and not (_root / ".git/shallow").exists():
+    try:
+        # setuptools_scm may not be installed
+        from setuptools_scm import get_version
 
-    __version__ = get_version(Path(__file__).parent.parent)
+        __version__ = get_version(_root)
+    except ImportError:  # pragma: no cover
+        # setuptools_scm not installed, we keep the existing __version__
+        pass
 
 
 __all__ = [
diff --git a/prepare_release.py b/prepare_release.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4fbef1f3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/prepare_release.py
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+import argparse
+import re
+import subprocess
+
+
+def run_towncrier(tag):
+    cmd = ("towncrier", "build", "--version", tag.strip("v"))
+
+    return subprocess.call(cmd)
+
+
+def update_fallback_version_in_pyproject(tag, fname="pyproject.toml"):
+    version = tag.strip("v").split(".")
+    # Default to +1 on minor version
+    major, minor = version[0], int(version[1]) + 1
+
+    with open(fname, "r") as file:
+        lines = file.readlines()
+
+    pattern = "fallback_version"
+    new_version = f"{major}.{minor}.dev0"
+    # Iterate through the lines and find the pattern
+    for i, line in enumerate(lines):
+        if re.search(pattern, line):
+            lines[i] = f'{pattern} = "{new_version}"\n'
+            break
+
+    # Write the updated content back to the file
+    with open(fname, "w") as file:
+        file.writelines(lines)
+
+    print(
+        f"\nNew (fallback) dev version ({new_version}) written to `pyproject.toml`.\n"
+    )
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    # Get tag argument
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    parser.add_argument("tag")
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+    tag = args.tag
+
+    # Update release notes
+    run_towncrier(tag)
+
+    # Update fallback version for setuptools_scm
+    update_fallback_version_in_pyproject(tag)
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index f92a4d8b2..ba616acc8 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -68,6 +68,8 @@ file = "LICENSE"
   "sphinx-design",
   "sphinx-favicon",
   "sphinx-gallery",
+  "sphinxcontrib-towncrier",
+  "towncrier",
 ]
 "tests" = [
   "pytest     >= 5.0",
@@ -96,7 +98,10 @@ force-exclude = '''
 [tool.coverage.run]
 branch = true
 source = ["hyperspy"]
-omit = ["hyperspy/tests/*"]
+omit = [
+  "hyperspy/tests/*",
+  "prepare_release.py",
+  ]
 
 [tool.coverage.report]
 precision = 2
@@ -118,3 +123,48 @@ include = ["exspy*"]
 
 [tool.setuptools_scm]
 # Presence enables setuptools_scm, the version will be determine at build time from git
+# The version will be updated by the `prepare_release.py` script
+fallback_version = "0.1.dev0"
+
+
+[tool.towncrier]
+package_dir = "exspy"
+filename = "CHANGES.rst"
+directory = "upcoming_changes/"
+title_format = "{version} ({project_date})"
+issue_format = "`#{issue} <https://github.com/hyperspy/exspy/issues/{issue}>`_"
+
+  [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+  directory = "new"
+  name = "New features"
+  showcontent = true
+
+  [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+  directory = "bugfix"
+  name = "Bug Fixes"
+  showcontent = true
+
+  [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+  directory = "doc"
+  name = "Improved Documentation"
+  showcontent = true
+
+  [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+  directory = "deprecation"
+  name = "Deprecations"
+  showcontent = true
+
+  [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+  directory = "enhancements"
+  name = "Enhancements"
+  showcontent = true
+
+  [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+  directory = "api"
+  name = "API changes"
+  showcontent = true
+
+  [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+  directory = "maintenance"
+  name = "Maintenance"
+  showcontent = true
diff --git a/releasing_guide.md b/releasing_guide.md
index b211bc212..2de718f81 100644
--- a/releasing_guide.md
+++ b/releasing_guide.md
@@ -4,8 +4,10 @@ To publish a new exSpy release do the following steps:
 
 ## Preparation
 
-- Create a new PR to the 'main' branch for the release process, e.g. `release_v0.1.1`
-- Make sure to have the code ready, including changelog
+- In a pull request, prepare the release by running the `prepare_release.py` python script (e.g. `python prepare_release.py 0.2`) , which will do the following:
+  - update the release notes in `CHANGES.rst` by running `towncrier`,
+  - update the `setuptools_scm` fallback version in `pyproject.toml` (for a patch release, this will stay the same).
+- Check release notes
 - Let that PR collect comments for a day to ensure that other maintainers are comfortable
   with releasing
 - Set correct date and version number in `CHANGES.rst`
diff --git a/upcoming_changes/14.maintenance.rst b/upcoming_changes/14.maintenance.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5b627d765
--- /dev/null
+++ b/upcoming_changes/14.maintenance.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Use towncrier to manage release notes and improve setting dev version
\ No newline at end of file