On 17th September, sustainability leaders, business owners, educators and practitioners from across the Midlands will come together at the Centre for Responsible Business, University of Birmingham Business School, for SUSTAIN UnConference 2026.
ChangeKitchen CIC is a proud Founding Partner of SUSTAIN UnConference and the chosen climate-friendly caterer for 2026.
SUSTAIN is the annual gathering of the Midlands sustainability community: the businesses and organisations working on climate adaptation, decarbonisation and the transition to more resilient, responsible ways of operating. The conversations span the full range of what that means in practice, from renewable energy and retrofit to circular economy, sustainable finance, biodiversity, green skills and supply chain resilience, all shaped by whoever is in the room and what they most need to work through together. The Midlands is central to the UK’s sustainability transition, in business adaptation, skills and community resilience, and SUSTAIN is where that community gathers, once a year, to drive it forward.
At an UnConference, there are no keynote speakers, no panels and no agenda set before the day begins. Instead, every attendee can pitch a topic in the opening session, the room votes on what to explore, and the day organises itself into small-group conversations led by whoever brought the idea. For business owners, that means a full day shaped around the challenges and opportunities that matter most to the people in the room.
If you would rather spend the day networking than leading a session, you can do exactly that. SUSTAIN UnConference is built so that no one is ever directed into a meeting they did not choose. For SME owners in particular, the opportunity to spend a full day in direct, self-directed conversation with peers is rare; and the format makes every conversation one you have actively chosen to have.
Previous SUSTAIN UnConference events have brought together businesses of every size, local authority teams, universities, architects, engineers, community organisations, legal and financial professionals, and investors, all in one room in one day.
SUSTAIN 2026 is also the founding event for Birmingham Climate Week, a new city-wide initiative launching this September to bring sustainability events, conversations and activities across Birmingham into one dedicated moment in the civic calendar. The region has not had a dedicated sustainability week before, and the ambition is to build it into an annual fixture, drawing more organisations and conversations into the same calendar moment each year. Businesses attending will be part of the launch of something Birmingham is building for the first time.
SUSTAIN UnConference is on Thursday 17th September 2026 at the Centre for Responsible Business, University of Birmingham Business School.