diff --git a/.github/workflows/checking_release.yml b/.github/workflows/checking_release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0441a5b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/checking_release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# Workflow to check the state of the release banch
+# This action is adapted from https://github.com/t4d-gmbh/stubbed_versioning
+name: Check release state
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branch:
+      - "release-[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+"
+
+jobs:
+  pre_release_checks:
+    if: github.ref != 'refs/heads/main'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: smoke step
+        run: |
+          echo I ran to prepare for 
+          echo "VERSION=$(echo ${{ github.ref }}|grep -Eo '[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+')"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/conditional_checks.yml b/.github/workflows/conditional_checks.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2de43fa1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/conditional_checks.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+name: On demand checks
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types: [ labeled ]
+
+jobs:
+  run_memeory_checks:
+    if: ${{ github.event.label.name == 'memory::check' }}
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Run a one-line script
+        run: echo Hello, world!
+
diff --git a/.github/workflows/initiate_release.yml b/.github/workflows/initiate_release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cabc19f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/initiate_release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+# Workflow triggered when we have a new release candidate
+# This action is adapted from https://github.com/t4d-gmbh/stubbed_versioning
+name: Initiate new version release process
+
+on:
+  push:
+    tags:
+      - "[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+-rc*"
+
+env:
+  CHGLOG_RELEASE: git-chglog_0.15.4_linux_amd64
+  CHGLOG_PATH: https://github.com/git-chglog/git-chglog/releases/download/v0.15.4
+
+jobs:
+  initiate-version-release:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+      pull-requests: write
+      repository-projects: write
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+    - name: Register desired version
+      id: release_version
+      run: |
+        echo "VERSION=`echo $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0|grep -Eo '[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+')`" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        echo "AUTHOR=`echo $(git log -1 --pretty=%an)`" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        # get the previous clean (i.e. no -rc ) version
+        echo "PREVIOUS_VERSION=`echo $(git ls-remote --tags --refs --sort tag origin 'refs/tags/*'|grep -v -e '-rc(.*)'|tail -n 1|awk -F/ '{print substr($0, index($0,$3))}')`" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+    - name: Get git-chglog and update CHANGELOG
+      run: |
+        wget ${{ env.CHGLOG_PATH }}/${{ env.CHGLOG_RELEASE}}.tar.gz  # get the binary for the chglog
+        tar --extract --file=${{ env.CHGLOG_RELEASE}}.tar.gz git-chglog
+        # update the changelog only for this tag
+        ./git-chglog -o _tmpCHLOG.md ${{ github.ref_name }}..${{ steps.release_version.outputs.PREVIOUS_VERSION }}
+        cat _tmpCHLOG.md CHANGELOG.md > new_CHLOG.md && mv new_CHLOG.md CHANGELOG.md
+        # now we substitute the clean tag
+        sed -i -e "s/${{ github.ref_name }}/${{ steps.release_version.outputs.version}}/g" CHANGELOG.md
+        rm git-chglog
+    # Update the DESCRIPITON file
+    # Update the configure.ac
+    - name: Create version release Pull Request
+      uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v6
+      with:
+        branch: release-${{ steps.release_version.outputs.version }}
+        commit-message: "automated-update of changelog"
+        token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        add-paths: |
+          CHANGELOG.md
+        delete-branch: false
+        title: Release request version ${{ steps.release_version.outputs.version }}
+        body: |
+          Request triggered by **${{ steps.release_version.outputs.AUTHOR }}**
+          
+          The initiating tag was **${{ github.ref_name }}**
+
+          Merging this Pull Request will create a release of the version **${{ steps.release_version.outputs.version }}**.
+        labels: |
+          version-release
+        base: main  # NOTE: this should match the branch on which the tag was made
+        draft: true  # NOTE: this is not allowed on free private repos
diff --git a/.github/workflows/releasing_version.yml b/.github/workflows/releasing_version.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..228dabb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/releasing_version.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+# Workflow to release a new version
+# This action is adapted from https://github.com/t4d-gmbh/stubbed_versioning
+name: Publish a version
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types:
+      # TODO: we might also want to pusblish a version if the Pull request
+      #       has conflicts, thus on 'closed' might be not enough
+      - closed
+
+jobs:
+  release-version:
+    if: github.event.pull_request.merged == true
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+    steps:
+    - name: Get the version to release
+      id: release_version
+      run: |
+        echo "VERSION=$(echo ${{ github.head_ref }}|grep -Eo '[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+')" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        ref: ${{ github.head_ref }}
+    - name: Creating the version tag
+      run: |
+        git config user.email "actions@github.com"
+        git config user.name "github_actions"
+        git tag -a ${{ steps.release_version.outputs.version }} -m 'Published Version'
+    - name: Push changes
+      uses: ad-m/github-push-action@master
+      with:
+        branch: ${{ github.head_ref }}
+        github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        force: true
+        tags: true
+    - uses: ncipollo/release-action@v1
+      with:
+        commit: ${{ github.head_ref }}  # NOTE: Asserts to not create release from main
+        tag: ${{ steps.release_version.outputs.version }}
+        # artifacts: "release.tar.gz,foo/*.txt"
+        # bodyFile: "body.md"
+        body: |
+          Release of version ${{ steps.release_version.outputs.version }}