Network Notwork CIC, 4A & B Evolution, Wynyard (2026)

16/10/2026

Introducing Joanna Wake the first of our key speakers for NetWORK Stockton on the 18th November at Stockton Globe.
Joanna is a force of nature in AI. A three-time founder, she’s now building Situate AI, taking practical AI training into businesses of every size and sector across the UK, from factory floors to boardrooms. She’s genuinely passionate about getting these skills to everyone, whatever their age, role or starting point. As a subject matter expert, Joanna shapes AI courses that reach learners around the world, and she’s an Anthropic partner. Expect an inspiring founder journey, plenty of energy and all things AI.
Secure your FREE ticket NOW! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/network-notwork-cic-88621195113

16/10/2026

In 5 days we are coming for you Middlesbrough! NetWORK Middlesbrough is happening at the BIOS building at Teesside University 4.30-6.30pm on Wednesday! We have speakers, speed networking and network games planned!

One of your key speakers is Adeel Bashir who is the Legal Director of Nouveau legal, a specialist commercial law practice based in Teesside, supporting ambitious businesses across the UK and internationally.

Driven by a belief that legal services should empower businesses rather than hold them back, Adeel established Nouveau Legal to challenge the traditional approach to business law. His vision was simple: to make expert legal advice fixed-fee, more accessible, transparent and commercially focused.

Working closely with entrepreneurs, directors and business leaders, Nouveau Legal advise on a broad range of commercial matters, including contracts, corporate transactions, employment law, intellectual property and dispute resolution. His approach centres on understanding the bigger picture, communicating in plain English and finding practical solutions that align with each client's ambitions.

Grab your tickets now! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/network-notwork-cic-88621195113

14/10/2026

Michael Carruthers attended the final morning of the Design in Everything Showcase in Gateshead, celebrating the people, ideas and work contributing to design across the North East.

The showcase brought together designers and creatives from a range of sectors and disciplines, providing an opportunity to explore projects, discover new approaches and learn more about the region’s creative talent.

Alongside the showcase, a dedicated session supported early-career designers and creatives looking to build their careers in the North East, highlighting the importance of nurturing emerging talent and creating opportunities for the next generation.

It was a great opportunity to make new connections, exchange ideas and celebrate the creativity and collaboration taking place across the region.

Thank you to everyone involved in bringing the design community together and showcasing the fantastic work happening across the North East.

14/10/2026

Introducing our first key speaker for NetWORK Middlesbrough on the 21st October!

James Plura has spent over a decade helping corporate and public sector clients to achieve efficacy through improving efficiency and effectiveness. Most recently, James identified £400,000 in efficiency savings for a client along with identifying and reducing risks, increasing resilience, addressing cultural problems, and creating a people structure that ensured that the right people with the right skills were doing the right work at the right time. This increased capacity across the core team by 20%. He is now focusing his attention on helping SME’s in the North East to achieve the same results.

Book your FREE tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/network-notwork-cic-88621195113

11/10/2026

Simon Green Edge Innovation opened the event noting that design creates new products, processes or services to solve problems we face in society. Design in everything is about celebrating, collaborating and working with other organisations such as health systems, companies and small organisations.

We started with a conversation about “what is design”. It’s everything. It is not as appreciated as perhaps it should be. We want to celebrate and profile it. There are 28 events this week from making and sharing to learning.

Rachael Wadsworth Head of culture, creative industries and sport. NE Mayoral Strategic Authority.

Design is a discipline that sits underneath so much of what we are trying to do in the region. The creative industries and design are increasingly being recognised by policy, government and economists. The north east was identified as one of the regions with the highest potential growth in creative industries. The UK design industry is worth £136.7bn and is worth £3.1bn to the North East Economy with 67% growth between 2019-2023.

The work we are trying to do is more intentional from screen writing to games and sport. Design connects naturally. If we want the north east to grow in a way that is creative and competitive we have to consider design. AI and digital innovation only work if people know, understand and trust it. The same is true of the environmental side. Design shapes choices long before anything reaches the public.

Storytelling shows up in our venues and public spaces and how people experience our cultural spaces. It’s not good enough to tell a good story about a place but their experience of it has to match. “Storytelling without problem solving is just branding”.

10/10/2026

Rachael Z. Miller , Kelly Sheridan and Dr Alana James are up next. Microfibre pollution have many names which can also be termed microplastics, microfilaments, fibres and nano-fibres.

Rachel Z Miller:
The official definition is < 5mm. There are two types of microplastics, primary and secondary (little bits that came from bigger pieces). A lot of loss is in rivers but also the ocean and it becomes a microplastic soup and is then bioavailable.

There are 1,300 species with microplastic with negative consequences. Humans are also exposed too. The more processed or plastic-packaged, the more chance you have of ingesting microplastics. It has been found in tap water.

Correlations:
- disrupt gut microbiome
- Inflammation
- Lower s***m quality
- Lower testosterone levels
- Negatively affect learning and memory
- Dementia
- Antibiotic resistance

The Rozalia Project focuses on urban, inland and coastal waters. Work on derelict fishing gear, consumer debris and microparticles.

Principles
1. Start with the dream and compromise down
2. Radical interdisciplinarity (forensic science and marine science led to CSI for the ocean)
3. Biomimicry (the solution coraball is an in-washing machine solution to catch microfibres)

If you want to join CSI for the ocean, scan the QR code or visit rozaliaproject.org

Dr Kelly Sheridan:
The microfibre Consortium is a non-profit organisation convening a global community across the textile value chain. Seeking to design lower shedding fabrics.

Dr Alana James:
Upstream innovation is to work backwards rather than considering the issue at end of life (e.g. recycling initiatives), we need to be using science led innovation to inform earlier in the product life cycle to prevent future issues.

The FibER hub at Northumbria University created a partnership between TMC and NU to have true interdisciplinary research.

09/10/2026

The start of the North East England’s Design Week! There is a jam-packed schedule day and night every single day starting with a showcase at the Biscuit Factory Newcastle at 9am 💫

Design in Everything means exactly that... everything!
When people hear the word design, they often think about logos, graphics or products. But design is much bigger than that. Design is about how we solve problems, improve experiences and create positive change.

That's why Design in Everything celebrates all kinds of design:
Product Design
Graphic Design
Service Design
Digital and UX Design
Engineering and Manufacturing Design
Architecture and Built Environment
Fashion and Textiles
Design in Healthcare
Design in Education
Community and Social Innovation

In fact, if you're creating, improving, shaping or rethinking something to make it work better for people, you're probably using design.
Design in Everything is for anyone who designs solutions, experiences, products, services, places, systems or futures.
Because design isn't just a profession. It's a way of thinking that can make almost anything better.

08/10/2026

Host: Chris Stokel-Walker on a panel on AI and Design

Laura Richards FCIPR AI helps to offset and plug gaps in our skillset.
Lucy Batley I use design thinking in everything. I ask it to challenge me.”
Dominic Lusardi: I use it as a critical friend or a fly on the wall to see what I’m missing or can reinterpret. Using it objectively.

Chris: you’re all using it as a sounding board…

Laura: We are at an interesting moment in time. Who has created something? It’s co-creation with the iterative back and forth.
Lucy: AI is not good at branding or logo design at the moment. It’s a tool. My worry is that people will over-rely on it. We need to get better at designing the Ai to create the design. The differentiator is going to be taste.
Dom: Hallucinations reinforce what you’re talking about when it is a long conversation.

Laura: Idea junkies has been built using decades of career knowledge and expertise.
Chris: experience matters.
Lucy: Everyone must remember it’s a tool. It can mimic experience and emotion but doesn’t have it.
Dom: It’s not going away. When you have a visual AI it’ll be better reading your expression. Currently it’s just text, a single dimension.
Lucy: it’s interesting to see how it’ll change language as people are starting to speak like LLMs.
Laura: What you feed it materially changes the output.
Lucy: it’s going to go faster and faster. We need to develop a change mindset. Humans aren’t very good at change.
Dom: I want to get the knowledge levels up. I want them to understand that it’s not more intelligent than us it’s just fast.
Laura: we are going together move past LLMs. We need designers to design those experiences. How do you design for a technology that’s going to be everywhere in everything?
Lucy: experiential design is going to become massive.
Laura: if AI takes away the utility, whats left is the experience. We decide what we want the experience to be as humans.

07/10/2026

Kat Carruthers and Michael Carruthers attended the Nexus: The Four Lane Ends Challenge by edge innovation at North East Design Week.

Roslyn Adamson: Nexus is going through a change and a realisation of the need to be more commercial. There is a hunger and appetite to be more self-sufficient and reduce reliance of the government and reduce the burden on fayre paying passengers.

The question is how do we not only fill vacant units, but how do we do it that benefits metro users, the local community and something a bit different with longevity.

Challenges include an aging infrastructure, some have a small footprint, lower footfall stations (and generally lower footfall following COVID-19) and antisocial behaviour. Four lane ends has particular challenge of having a complex layout.

Kevin Leonard (customer service operations manager, Nexus): seeking to make a better customer experience, considerations have ranged from football pitches to community engagement opportunities.

Anna Kerr (connected places catapult): research was carried out as stations as spaces for placemaking. Bristol Temple Meads is an innovation hub and the first station innovation zone. Halt in Belfast includes hospitality, music and a four-court padel venue plus retail and co-working units. Peckham levels was a car park turned into workspace, studios, food and events.

Ben Arkless: exploration of alternative uses for commercial units while complementing existing tenants.

It was great to work together to come up with new and exciting ideas for a space at the centre of a community. Thank you edge innovation and nexus for a great event.

07/10/2026

Could you give one hour a week to support a young person in Middlesbrough?

MCR Pathways is looking for volunteer mentors who can listen, encourage and help a young person build confidence in their future.
Mentors meet their young person in school for one hour each week. You do not need a particular professional background, what matters is being a dependable adult who cares. MCR provides training and ongoing support.

If you live or work locally, or your organisation could help share this opportunity with staff, we would love to hear from you.

Find out more and register your interest:
https://mcrpathways.org/register/

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