diff --git a/.github/workflows/automatic-pr-update.yml b/.github/workflows/automatic-pr-update.yml
index 4842a120451b..6621d5985d04 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/automatic-pr-update.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/automatic-pr-update.yml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ jobs:
   # thats's all. single step is needed - if PR is mergeable according to
   # branch protection rules it will be merged automatically
   mergepal:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     if: github.repository == 'RasaHQ/rasa'
 
     steps:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-docs-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-docs-tests.yml
index 7a5da8f35554..366fe1cdb0f8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-docs-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-docs-tests.yml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ env:
 jobs:
   changes:
     name: Check for file changes
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     outputs:
       docs: ${{ steps.filter.outputs.docs }}
     steps:
@@ -29,9 +29,9 @@ jobs:
 
   test_documentation:
     name: Test Documentation
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     needs: [changes]
-    if: needs.changes.outputs.docs == 'true'
+    if: needs.changes.outputs.docs == 'true' && false # disabled as docs are moved out in new versions
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout git repository 🕝
@@ -100,9 +100,9 @@ jobs:
 
   documentation_lint:
     name: Documentation Linting Checks
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     needs: [changes]
-    if: needs.changes.outputs.docs == 'true'
+    if: needs.changes.outputs.docs == 'true' && false # disabled as docs are moved out in new versions
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout git repository 🕝
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-github-actions.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-github-actions.yml
index 4f354bc1aa43..161c0b027b0f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-github-actions.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-github-actions.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ env:
 jobs:
   test:
     name: Run Tests
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     #missing matrix
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-model-regression-on-schedule.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-model-regression-on-schedule.yml
index b4463fd67a62..5ac4710cf288 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-model-regression-on-schedule.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-model-regression-on-schedule.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ env:
 jobs:
   read_test_configuration:
     name: Reads tests configuration
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     outputs:
       matrix: ${{ steps.set-matrix.outputs.matrix }}
       matrix_length: ${{ steps.set-matrix.outputs.matrix_length }}
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ jobs:
   deploy_runner_gpu:
     name: Deploy Github Runner - GPU
     needs: read_test_configuration
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
@@ -503,7 +503,7 @@ jobs:
 
   combine_reports:
     name: Combine reports
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     needs:
       - model_regression_test_gpu
     if: always() && needs.model_regression_test_gpu.result == 'success'
@@ -542,7 +542,7 @@ jobs:
 
   analyse_performance:
     name: Analyse Performance
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     if: always() && github.event_name == 'schedule'
     needs:
       - model_regression_test_gpu
@@ -691,7 +691,7 @@ jobs:
     needs:
       - deploy_runner_gpu
       - model_regression_test_gpu
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
 
     steps:
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-model-regression.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-model-regression.yml
index 84f6d34a5392..3e65fcec2ebd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-model-regression.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-model-regression.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ jobs:
   read_test_configuration:
     name: Reads tests configuration
     if: ${{ github.repository == 'RasaHQ/rasa' && contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'status:model-regression-tests') }}
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     outputs:
       matrix: ${{ steps.set-matrix.outputs.matrix }}
       matrix_length: ${{ steps.set-matrix.outputs.matrix_length }}
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ jobs:
   deploy_runner_gpu:
     name: Deploy Github Runner - GPU
     needs: read_test_configuration
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     if: ${{ contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'runner:gpu') && github.repository == 'RasaHQ/rasa' && contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'status:model-regression-tests') && needs.read_test_configuration.outputs.configuration_id != '' }}
 
     steps:
@@ -492,7 +492,7 @@ jobs:
       - read_test_configuration
     env:
       ACCELERATOR_TYPE: "CPU"
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     strategy:
       max-parallel: 3
       matrix: ${{fromJson(needs.read_test_configuration.outputs.matrix)}}
@@ -733,7 +733,7 @@ jobs:
 
   combine_reports:
     name: Combine reports
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     needs:
       - model_regression_test_cpu
       - model_regression_test_gpu
@@ -790,7 +790,7 @@ jobs:
 
   set_job_success_status:
     name: Set job success status
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     needs:
       - combine_reports
     if: ${{ always() && needs.combine_reports.result == 'success' }}
@@ -807,7 +807,7 @@ jobs:
 
   add_comment_results:
     name: Add a comment with the results
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     needs:
       - combine_reports
     if: ${{ always() && needs.combine_reports.result == 'success' }}
@@ -901,7 +901,7 @@ jobs:
     needs:
       - deploy_runner_gpu
       - model_regression_test_gpu
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     if: ${{ always() && needs.deploy_runner_gpu.result != 'skipped' && contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'runner:gpu') && contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'status:model-regression-tests') }}
 
     steps:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/continous-integration.yml b/.github/workflows/continous-integration.yml
index 00f2f8aab5f8..bf8798cfa1f2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/continous-integration.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/continous-integration.yml
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ env:
 jobs:
   changes:
     name: Check for file changes
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     outputs:
       # Both of the outputs below are strings but only one exists at any given time
       backend: ${{ steps.changed-files.outputs.backend || steps.run-all.outputs.backend }}
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ jobs:
     # Runs on pushes to main exclusively
     name: Wait for docs tests
     if: github.ref_type != 'tag'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     needs: [changes]
 
     steps:
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ jobs:
   quality:
     name: Code Quality
     if: github.ref_type != 'tag'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     needs: [changes]
 
     steps:
@@ -132,14 +132,12 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Install poetry 🦄
         if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true'
-        uses: Gr1N/setup-poetry@15821dc8a61bc630db542ae4baf6a7c19a994844 # v8
+        uses: snok/install-poetry@93ada01c735cc8a383ce0ce2ae205a21c415379b
         with:
-          poetry-version: ${{ env.POETRY_VERSION }}
-
-      - name: Inject setuptools into poetry's runtime environment
-        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true'
-        run: |
-          poetry self add setuptools
+          version: ${{ env.POETRY_VERSION }}
+          virtualenvs-create: true
+          virtualenvs-in-project: true
+          installer-parallel: true
 
       - name: Load Poetry Cached Libraries ⬇
         id: cache-poetry
@@ -210,7 +208,7 @@ jobs:
 
   changelog:
     name: Check for changelog
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout git repository 🕝
@@ -249,7 +247,7 @@ jobs:
           - test-full-model-training
           - test-other-unit-tests
           - test-performance
-        os: [ubuntu-22.04, windows-2019]
+        os: [ubuntu-24.04, windows-2019]
         python-version: [3.8, 3.9, "3.10"]
 
     steps:
@@ -276,16 +274,20 @@ jobs:
           echo "POETRY_VERSION=$(scripts/poetry-version.sh)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
         shell: bash
 
-      - name: Install poetry 🦄
-        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true'
-        uses: Gr1N/setup-poetry@15821dc8a61bc630db542ae4baf6a7c19a994844 # v8
+      - name: Install poetry (Ubuntu) 🦄
+        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-24.04'
+        uses: snok/install-poetry@93ada01c735cc8a383ce0ce2ae205a21c415379b
         with:
-          poetry-version: ${{ env.POETRY_VERSION }}
+          version: ${{ env.POETRY_VERSION }}
+          virtualenvs-create: true
+          virtualenvs-in-project: true
+          installer-parallel: true
 
-      - name: Inject setuptools into poetry's runtime environment
-        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true'
-        run: |
-          poetry self add setuptools
+      - name: Install poetry (Windows) 🦄
+        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.os == 'windows-2019'
+        uses: Gr1N/setup-poetry@48b0f77c8c1b1b19cb962f0f00dff7b4be8f81ec #v9
+        with:
+          poetry-version: ${{ env.POETRY_VERSION }}
 
       - name: Prevent race condition in poetry build
         # More context about race condition during poetry build can be found here:
@@ -323,7 +325,7 @@ jobs:
         run: poetry config virtualenvs.in-project true
 
       - name: Install Dependencies (Linux) 📦
-        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-22.04'
+        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-24.04'
         # Poetry intermittently fails to install dependency if it is not PEP 517 compliant
         # This is a workaround for that issue
         run: |
@@ -351,7 +353,7 @@ jobs:
           make prepare-tests-windows-gha
 
       - name: Add github workflow problem matchers
-        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.python-version == 3.7 && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-22.04'
+        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.python-version == 3.7 && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-24.04'
         # only annotate based on test runs on ubuntu: otherwise
         # all errors will be duplicated for each python / os combination
         # therefore, we only enable for the one where most tests are run
@@ -370,7 +372,7 @@ jobs:
           Set-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem' -Name 'LongPathsEnabled' -value 0
 
       - name: Install ddtrace on Linux
-        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-22.04'
+        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-24.04'
         run: poetry run pip install -U 'ddtrace<2.0.0'
 
       - name: Install ddtrace on Windows
@@ -395,12 +397,12 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash # bash shell is a way to make code run for both Linux and Windows
 
       - name: Store coverage reports
-        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-22.04'
+        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-24.04'
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@b4b15b8c7c6ac21ea08fcf65892d2ee8f75cf882 #v4.4.3
         with:
-          name: ${{ matrix.test }}-coverage
+          name: ${{ matrix.test }}-${{ matrix.python-version }}-${{ matrix.os }}-coverage
           path: |
-            ${{ github.workspace }}/${{ matrix.test }}-coverage
+            ${{ github.workspace }}/test_coverage
 
   test-flaky:
     name: Run Flaky Tests
@@ -411,7 +413,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        os: [ubuntu-22.04, windows-2019]
+        os: [ubuntu-24.04, windows-2019]
         python-version: [3.8, 3.9, "3.10"]
 
     steps:
@@ -438,16 +440,20 @@ jobs:
           echo "POETRY_VERSION=$(scripts/poetry-version.sh)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
         shell: bash
 
-      - name: Install poetry 🦄
-        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true'
-        uses: Gr1N/setup-poetry@15821dc8a61bc630db542ae4baf6a7c19a994844 # v8
+      - name: Install poetry (Ubuntu) 🦄
+        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-24.04'
+        uses: snok/install-poetry@93ada01c735cc8a383ce0ce2ae205a21c415379b
         with:
-          poetry-version: ${{ env.POETRY_VERSION }}
+          version: ${{ env.POETRY_VERSION }}
+          virtualenvs-create: true
+          virtualenvs-in-project: true
+          installer-parallel: true
 
-      - name: Inject setuptools into poetry's runtime environment
-        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true'
-        run: |
-          poetry self add setuptools
+      - name: Install poetry (Windows) 🦄
+        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.os == 'windows-2019'
+        uses: Gr1N/setup-poetry@48b0f77c8c1b1b19cb962f0f00dff7b4be8f81ec #v9
+        with:
+          poetry-version: ${{ env.POETRY_VERSION }}
 
       - name: Load Poetry Cached Libraries ⬇
         id: cache-poetry
@@ -478,7 +484,7 @@ jobs:
         run: poetry config virtualenvs.in-project true
 
       - name: Install Dependencies (Linux) 📦
-        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-22.04'
+        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-24.04'
         run: |
           sudo apt-get -y install libpq-dev
           make install-full | tee .output
@@ -502,7 +508,7 @@ jobs:
           make prepare-tests-windows-gha
 
       - name: Add github workflow problem matchers
-        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.python-version == 3.7 && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-22.04'
+        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.python-version == 3.7 && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-24.04'
         # only annotate based on test runs on ubuntu: otherwise
         # all errors will be duplicated for each python / os combination
         # therefore, we only enable for the one where most tests are run
@@ -521,7 +527,7 @@ jobs:
           Set-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem' -Name 'LongPathsEnabled' -value 0
 
       - name: Install ddtrace on Linux
-        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-22.04'
+        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-24.04'
         run: poetry run pip install -U 'ddtrace<2.0.0'
 
       - name: Install ddtrace on Windows
@@ -546,17 +552,17 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash # bash shell is a way to make code run for both Linux and Windows
 
       - name: Store coverage reports
-        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-22.04'
+        if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true' && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-24.04'
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@b4b15b8c7c6ac21ea08fcf65892d2ee8f75cf882 #v4.4.3
         with:
-          name: ${{ matrix.test }}-coverage
+          name: ${{ matrix.test }}-${{ matrix.python-version }}-${{ matrix.os }}-coverage
           path: |
-            ${{ github.workspace }}/${{ matrix.test }}-coverage
+            ${{ github.workspace }}/test_coverage
 
   upload_coverage_reports:
     name: Upload coverage reports to codeclimate
     if: github.ref_type != 'tag'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     # Always upload results even if tests failed
     needs:
       - test
@@ -576,7 +582,7 @@ jobs:
         if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true'
         uses: actions/download-artifact@fa0a91b85d4f404e444e00e005971372dc801d16 #v4.1.8
         with:
-          path: ${{ github.workspace }}/tests_coverage
+          path: ${{ github.workspace }}/test_coverage
 
       - name: Merge all reports
         if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true'
@@ -608,7 +614,7 @@ jobs:
   integration_test:
     name: Run Non-Sequential Integration Tests
     if: github.ref_type != 'tag'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     timeout-minutes: 60
     needs: [changes]
     env:
@@ -678,9 +684,12 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Install poetry 🦄
         if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true'
-        uses: Gr1N/setup-poetry@15821dc8a61bc630db542ae4baf6a7c19a994844 # v8
+        uses: snok/install-poetry@93ada01c735cc8a383ce0ce2ae205a21c415379b
         with:
-          poetry-version: ${{ env.POETRY_VERSION }}
+          version: ${{ env.POETRY_VERSION }}
+          virtualenvs-create: true
+          virtualenvs-in-project: true
+          installer-parallel: true
 
       - name: Load Poetry Cached Libraries ⬇
         id: cache-poetry
@@ -730,7 +739,7 @@ jobs:
   broker_integration_test:
     name: Run Broker Integration Tests
     if: github.ref_type != 'tag'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     timeout-minutes: 60
     needs: [changes]
     env:
@@ -765,9 +774,12 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Install poetry 🦄
         if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true'
-        uses: Gr1N/setup-poetry@15821dc8a61bc630db542ae4baf6a7c19a994844 # v8
+        uses: snok/install-poetry@93ada01c735cc8a383ce0ce2ae205a21c415379b
         with:
-          poetry-version: ${{ env.POETRY_VERSION }}
+          version: ${{ env.POETRY_VERSION }}
+          virtualenvs-create: true
+          virtualenvs-in-project: true
+          installer-parallel: true
 
       - name: Load Poetry Cached Libraries ⬇
         id: cache-poetry
@@ -809,7 +821,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run kafka and zookeeper containers for integration testing
         if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true'
         run: |
-          docker-compose -f tests_deployment/docker-compose.kafka.yml up -d
+          docker compose -f tests_deployment/docker-compose.kafka.yml up -d
 
       - name: Test Code with Services 🩺
         if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true'
@@ -823,12 +835,12 @@ jobs:
       - name: Stop kafka and zookeeper containers for integration testing
         if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true'
         run: |
-          docker-compose -f tests_deployment/docker-compose.kafka.yml down
+          docker compose -f tests_deployment/docker-compose.kafka.yml down
 
   sequential_integration_test:
     name: Run Sequential Integration Tests
     if: github.ref_type != 'tag'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     timeout-minutes: 60
     needs: [changes]
     env:
@@ -873,9 +885,12 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Install poetry 🦄
         if: needs.changes.outputs.backend == 'true'
-        uses: Gr1N/setup-poetry@15821dc8a61bc630db542ae4baf6a7c19a994844 # v8
+        uses: snok/install-poetry@93ada01c735cc8a383ce0ce2ae205a21c415379b
         with:
-          poetry-version: ${{ env.POETRY_VERSION }}
+          version: ${{ env.POETRY_VERSION }}
+          virtualenvs-create: true
+          virtualenvs-in-project: true
+          installer-parallel: true
 
       - name: Load Poetry Cached Libraries ⬇
         id: cache-poetry
@@ -926,7 +941,7 @@ jobs:
 
   build_docker_base_images_and_set_env:
     name: Build Docker base images and setup environment
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     outputs:
       base_image_hash: ${{ steps.check_image.outputs.base_image_hash }}
       base_mitie_image_hash: ${{ steps.check_image.outputs.base_mitie_image_hash }}
@@ -1109,7 +1124,7 @@ jobs:
 
   docker:
     name: Build Docker
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     needs: [changes, build_docker_base_images_and_set_env]
     env:
       IMAGE_TAG: ${{ needs.build_docker_base_images_and_set_env.outputs.image_tag }}
@@ -1211,7 +1226,7 @@ jobs:
 
   deploy:
     name: Deploy to PyPI
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
 
     # deploy will only be run when there is a tag available
     if: github.event_name == 'push' && startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags') && github.repository == 'RasaHQ/rasa'
@@ -1232,9 +1247,12 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
 
       - name: Install poetry 🦄
-        uses: Gr1N/setup-poetry@15821dc8a61bc630db542ae4baf6a7c19a994844 # v8
+        uses: snok/install-poetry@93ada01c735cc8a383ce0ce2ae205a21c415379b
         with:
-          poetry-version: ${{ env.POETRY_VERSION }}
+          version: ${{ env.POETRY_VERSION }}
+          virtualenvs-create: true
+          virtualenvs-in-project: true
+          installer-parallel: true
 
       - name: Copy Segment write key to the package
         env:
@@ -1287,7 +1305,7 @@ jobs:
 
   send_slack_notification_for_release_on_failure:
     name: Notify Slack & Publish Release Notes
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     # run this job when the workflow is triggered by a tag push
     if: always() && github.repository == 'RasaHQ/rasa' && github.ref_type == 'tag'
     needs:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/dependabot-batch-updater.yml b/.github/workflows/dependabot-batch-updater.yml
index 2065260d3bfc..dd08a4cf6c7c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/dependabot-batch-updater.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/dependabot-batch-updater.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ on:
 
 jobs:
   update_dependencies:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     name: Update dependencies
     steps:
       - uses: RasaHQ/dependabot-batch-updater@f049cbb0bbd3754bcb5ab154a79f00cd780fc633 # v1.0
diff --git a/.github/workflows/documentation.yml b/.github/workflows/documentation.yml
index 076f44d0c612..224bc01da6f4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/documentation.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/documentation.yml
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ env:
 jobs:
   changes:
     name: Check for file changes
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     # don't run this for pull requests of forks
     if: github.event_name == 'pull_request' && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == 'RasaHQ/rasa'
     outputs:
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ jobs:
 
   evaluate_release_tag:
     name: Evaluate release tag
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     # don't run this for main branches of forks and on documentation branch
     if: github.repository == 'RasaHQ/rasa' && github.ref != 'refs/heads/documentation' && github.event_name != 'pull_request'
     outputs:
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ jobs:
 
   prebuild_docs:
     name: Prebuild Docs
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     needs: [evaluate_release_tag]
     # don't run this for main branches of forks, would fail anyways
     if: github.repository == 'RasaHQ/rasa' && needs.evaluate_release_tag.outputs.build_docs == 'true' && github.ref != 'refs/heads/documentation' && github.event_name != 'pull_request'
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ jobs:
 
   preview_docs:
     name: Preview Docs
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     needs: [changes]
     # don't run this for pull requests from forks
     if: github.event_name == 'pull_request' && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == 'RasaHQ/rasa'
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ jobs:
 
   publish_docs:
     name: Publish Docs
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     # don't run this for main branches of forks; only run on documentation branch
     if: github.repository == 'RasaHQ/rasa' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/documentation'
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/nightly_release.yml b/.github/workflows/nightly_release.yml
index c7639d0cbf16..772f06a8a48a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/nightly_release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/nightly_release.yml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ on:
 jobs:
   run_script_and_tag_nightly_release:
     name: Run release script and tag a new nightly release
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     outputs:
       tag_name: ${{ steps.set_tagname.outputs.tag_name }}
 
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ jobs:
 
   deploy:
     name: Deploy to PyPI
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
 
     # deploy will only be run when there is a tag available
     needs: run_script_and_tag_nightly_release  # only run after all other stages succeeded
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ jobs:
 
   docker:
     name: Build Docker
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     needs: run_script_and_tag_nightly_release
     env:
       GCLOUD_VERSION: "297.0.1"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/rasa-install-cron-check.yml b/.github/workflows/rasa-install-cron-check.yml
index 91fa6eb6ee1d..2cc143c35681 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/rasa-install-cron-check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/rasa-install-cron-check.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       matrix:
         os:
-          [ubuntu-22.04, ubuntu-18.04, macos-latest, windows-2019, windows-2022]
+          [ubuntu-24.04, ubuntu-18.04, macos-latest, windows-2019, windows-2022]
         python-version: [3.8, 3.9, '3.10']
       fail-fast: false
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/security-scans.yml b/.github/workflows/security-scans.yml
index b4cbf69cc92f..5ae74653b87f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/security-scans.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/security-scans.yml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ concurrency:
 jobs:
   changes:
     name: Check for file changes
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     outputs:
       backend: ${{ steps.filter.outputs.backend }}
       docker: ${{ steps.filter.outputs.docker }}
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ jobs:
 
   trivy:
     name: Detecting hardcoded secrets
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@ac593985615ec2ede58e132d2e21d2b1cbd6127c
       with:
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ jobs:
 
   bandit:
     name: Detect python security issues
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     needs: [changes]
 
     steps:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/semgrep-check.yml b/.github/workflows/semgrep-check.yml
index 846f92494b26..0e6665738406 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/semgrep-check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/semgrep-check.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ jobs:
     # User-definable name of this GitHub Actions job:
     name: Semgrep Workflow Security Scan
     # If you are self-hosting, change the following `runs-on` value:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
 
     container:
       # A Docker image with Semgrep installed. Do not change this.
diff --git a/.github/workflows/spellcheck.yml b/.github/workflows/spellcheck.yml
index 4f90d2724ca9..3359884634e9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/spellcheck.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/spellcheck.yml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ on:
 jobs:
   spellcheck:
     name: Typo CI (GitHub Action)
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     timeout-minutes: 4
     if: "!contains(github.event.head_commit.message, '[ci skip]')"
     steps:
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.mdx b/CHANGELOG.mdx
index a97640d0772b..bdb301981a69 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.mdx
+++ b/CHANGELOG.mdx
@@ -16,6 +16,13 @@ https://github.com/RasaHQ/rasa/tree/main/changelog/ . -->
 
 <!-- TOWNCRIER -->
 
+## [3.6.21.dev1] - 2024-12-12
+                             
+Rasa 3.6.21.dev1 (2024-12-12)                               
+
+No significant changes.
+
+
 ## [3.6.20] - 2024-04-18
                         
 Rasa 3.6.20 (2024-04-18)                         
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 62367bc17c4f..a58eda4a3939 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ prepare-tests-macos:
 	brew install wget graphviz || true
 
 prepare-tests-ubuntu:
-	sudo apt-get -y install graphviz graphviz-dev python-tk
+	sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y install graphviz graphviz-dev python3-tk
 
 prepare-tests-windows:
 	choco install wget graphviz
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 0944c09460d6..1d259097f685 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ exclude = "((.eggs | .git | .pytest_cache | build | dist))"
 
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "rasa"
-version = "3.6.20"
+version = "3.6.21.dev1"
 description = "Open source machine learning framework to automate text- and voice-based conversations: NLU, dialogue management, connect to Slack, Facebook, and more - Create chatbots and voice assistants"
 authors = [ "Rasa Technologies GmbH <hi@rasa.com>",]
 maintainers = [ "Tom Bocklisch <tom@rasa.com>",]
diff --git a/rasa/version.py b/rasa/version.py
index 2e1490a6a8c3..d6f0fdbcec6f 100644
--- a/rasa/version.py
+++ b/rasa/version.py
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 # this file will automatically be changed,
 # do not add anything but the version number here!
-__version__ = "3.6.20"
+__version__ = "3.6.21.dev1"