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Register your interest for 2026
The eagerly awaited event is the annual highlight of the Expo Sunderland programme and brings together government, business leaders, industry experts, investors, developers, and leading professional voices, to debate the key topics influencing the growth of key cities such as Sunderland and share knowledge and best practice from other cities and regions.
The event features a series of key note speeches, panel debates and roundtable discussions that explore the barriers and opportunities in delivering local, regional and national growth ambitions with a particular focus on planning reform, housing delivery, community building, infrastructure provision, city centre activation, and the skills needed for the future workforce.
Plenary Sessions
Speakers from across the region and UK are invited to join the key stakeholders in the regeneration of Sunderland on stage in October 2025 to contribute their knowledge and expertise and showcase their best practise on how to: -
- Amplify economic growth and get building
- Accelerate infrastructure and housing supply
- Implement devolution at the heart of economic growth
- Integrate climate change and technology
- Raise educational standards
Supplemented with walking tours of the city centre to aid better understanding of achievements and challenges ahead in delivering a future city.
Breakout Sessions
The event audience will break out into groups after plenary session scene setting to activate full participation and be summarised in panel discussions, led by the chair of each group.
The discussions are free ranging but aiming for:
- Practical recommendations related to the project
- A proposition to address a local or regional issue
- A proposition for national policy
Themes include how to bring more life to the city centre, accelerate housing delivery, build new cohesive communities, advance technological innovation, further address climate change and develop new skills.
Networking & Side Events
An unrivalled platform regionally for fostering business engagement and inviting combined appetite for the rising infrastructure and regeneration of the Northeast.
Additional activities will be scheduled around the two days to maximise the itinerary for key stakeholders attending from across the UK.
The Stables @ Sheepfolds will host delegates on the evening after Day 1. This historic building and courtyard setting is now home to a vibrant and eclectic mix of independent bars, restaurants, events, live entertainment and leisure operators, all coming together to create a unique and energetic venue on the banks of the River Wear.
Event Blogs 2025
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