Open Doors was a free, open-to-all event for curious people to explore Sheffield Innovation Spine; the city centre’s urban innovation district. On 20 October 2026, people in Sheffield followed the route of the Spine walk and met with the problem-solvers and creators who are innovating, making, and doing cool stuff from our city’s specialist lab, studio and coworking spaces.
Whilst the event has now passed, you can still see the route and access some of the content that festival-goers experienced by downloading the free Spine Guide app and navigating to Open Doors.
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Open Doors 2026 was delivered through a unique collaboration between organisations, communities and venues with a shared purpose; to champion inclusive innovation, inspire and connect people with opportunities across Sheffield’s urban innovation district. It was delivered by TECH SY, University of Sheffield, Business Sheffield, Electric Works, Sheffield Hallam University, Emerge, Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Hub, Pennine Five, Sheffield Technology Parks, Llama Digital and convened by Sheffield Innovation Spine.
Open Doors 2026 was a fringe event of the TECH SY Northern Tech Summit.
