diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c2f67cc51..808317d09 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,8 +5,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
-## [Unreleased]
-
+<!-- towncrier release notes start -->
 
 ## [0.44.0](https://github.com/Substra/substra-backend/releases/tag/0.44.0) 2024-03-07
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b2e831ec0..dee040c19 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -223,6 +223,22 @@ Install [pre-commit](https://pre-commit.com/), then run:
 pre-commit install
 ```
 
+## How to generate the changelog
+
+The changelog is managed with [towncrier](https://towncrier.readthedocs.io/en/stable/index.html).
+To add a new entry in the changelog, add a file in the `changes` folder. The file name should have the following structure:
+`<unique_id>.<change_type>`.
+The `unique_id` is a unique identifier, we currently use the PR number.
+The `change_type` can be of the following types: `added`, `changed`, `removed`, `fixed`.
+
+To generate the changelog (for example during a release), use the following command (you must have the dev dependencies installed):
+
+```
+towncrier build --version=<x.y.z>
+```
+
+You can use the `--draft` option to see what would be generated without actually writing to the changelog (and without removing the fragments).
+
 ## Companion repositories
 
 The Substra platform is built from several components (see the [architecture](https://doc.substra.ai/architecture.html) documentation for a comprehensive overview):
diff --git a/backend/dev-requirements.txt b/backend/dev-requirements.txt
index f2f0680bf..8bdb8f62f 100644
--- a/backend/dev-requirements.txt
+++ b/backend/dev-requirements.txt
@@ -22,4 +22,5 @@ djangorestframework-stubs==1.8.0
 django-stubs==1.14.0
 celery-types==0.22.0
 docker==6.1.3
-celery[pytest]
\ No newline at end of file
+celery[pytest]
+towncrier==23.11.0
diff --git a/changes/861.changed b/changes/861.changed
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5c505af53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/861.changed
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- [chore] `towncrier` is now used for changelog management ([#861](https://github.com/Substra/substra-backend/pull/861))
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 04dd6317b..56b1b6335 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -96,3 +96,15 @@ exclude = [
 
 [tool.django-stubs]
 django_settings_module = "backend.settings.test"
+
+
+[tool.towncrier]
+directory = "changes"
+filename = "CHANGELOG.md"
+start_string = "<!-- towncrier release notes start -->\n"
+underlines = ["", "", ""]
+title_format = "## [{version}](https://github.com/Substra/substra-backend/releases/tag/{version}) - {project_date}"
+[tool.towncrier.fragment.added]
+[tool.towncrier.fragment.removed]
+[tool.towncrier.fragment.changed]
+[tool.towncrier.fragment.fixed]