diff --git a/.pylintrc b/.pylintrc
index a6aa8fde01..bad78ecaac 100644
--- a/.pylintrc
+++ b/.pylintrc
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ confidence=
 # --enable=similarities". If you want to run only the classes checker, but have
 # no Warning level messages displayed, use"--disable=all --enable=classes
 # --disable=W"
-disable=ungrouped-imports,bad-continuation,duplicate-code
+disable=ungrouped-imports,bad-continuation,duplicate-code,consider-using-f-string
 
 # Enable the message, report, category or checker with the given id(s). You can
 # either give multiple identifier separated by comma (,) or put this option
diff --git a/RELEASE.md b/RELEASE.md
index fff6d9153a..616ba97219 100644
--- a/RELEASE.md
+++ b/RELEASE.md
@@ -1,3 +1,15 @@
+# Upcoming Release 0.17.6
+
+## Major features and improvements
+
+## Bug fixes and other changes
+
+## Minor breaking changes to the API
+
+## Upcoming deprecations for Kedro 0.18.0
+
+## Thanks for supporting contributions
+
 # Release 0.17.5
 
 ## Major features and improvements
@@ -22,8 +34,6 @@
 * Imports are now refactored at `kedro pipeline package` and `kedro pipeline pull` time, so that _aliasing_ a modular pipeline doesn't break it.
 * Pinned `dynaconf` to `<3.1.6` because the method signature for `_validate_items` changed which is used in Kedro.
 
-## Minor breaking changes to the API
-
 ## Upcoming deprecations for Kedro 0.18.0
 * `kedro pipeline list` and `kedro pipeline describe` are being deprecated in favour of new commands `kedro registry list ` and `kedro registry describe`.
 * `kedro install` is being deprecated in favour of using `pip install -r src/requirements.txt` to install project dependencies.
diff --git a/features/environment.py b/features/environment.py
index 5f8463ff7e..b934cfe2aa 100644
--- a/features/environment.py
+++ b/features/environment.py
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ def _install_project_requirements(context):
         Path(
             "kedro/templates/project/{{ cookiecutter.repo_name }}/src/requirements.txt"
         )
-        .read_text()
+        .read_text(encoding="utf-8")
         .splitlines()
     )
     install_reqs = [req for req in install_reqs if "{" not in req]
diff --git a/features/steps/cli_steps.py b/features/steps/cli_steps.py
index ec7af0be30..14a7c5c0b9 100644
--- a/features/steps/cli_steps.py
+++ b/features/steps/cli_steps.py
@@ -669,7 +669,7 @@ def check_jupyter_nb_proc_on_port(context: behave.runner.Context, port: int):
         port: Port to check
 
     """
-    url = "http://localhost:%d" % int(port)
+    url = f"http://localhost:{int(port)}"
     try:
         util.wait_for(
             func=_check_service_up,
diff --git a/kedro/extras/extensions/ipython.py b/kedro/extras/extensions/ipython.py
index 1b3bcb6a15..b7be81ddec 100644
--- a/kedro/extras/extensions/ipython.py
+++ b/kedro/extras/extensions/ipython.py
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ def load_ipython_extension(ipython):
     """Main entry point when %load_ext is executed"""
 
     global project_path
-    global startup_path
+    global startup_path  # pylint:disable=global-variable-not-assigned
 
     ipython.register_magic_function(init_kedro, "line")
     ipython.register_magic_function(reload_kedro, "line", "reload_kedro")
diff --git a/kedro/framework/cli/utils.py b/kedro/framework/cli/utils.py
index 0db4cbe432..55ee432c26 100644
--- a/kedro/framework/cli/utils.py
+++ b/kedro/framework/cli/utils.py
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ def get_pkg_version(reqs_path: (Union[str, Path]), package_name: str) -> str:
         raise KedroCliError(f"Given path `{reqs_path}` is not a regular file.")
 
     pattern = re.compile(package_name + r"([^\w]|$)")
-    with reqs_path.open("r") as reqs_file:
+    with reqs_path.open("r", encoding="utf-8") as reqs_file:
         for req_line in reqs_file:
             req_line = req_line.strip()
             if pattern.search(req_line):
diff --git a/kedro/io/core.py b/kedro/io/core.py
index e5fdcf1cc7..a55e727319 100644
--- a/kedro/io/core.py
+++ b/kedro/io/core.py
@@ -171,8 +171,8 @@ def from_config(
             )
         except Exception as exc:
             raise DataSetError(
-                "An exception occurred when parsing config "
-                "for DataSet `{}`:\n{}".format(name, str(exc))
+                f"An exception occurred when parsing config "
+                f"for DataSet `{name}`:\n{str(exc)}"
             ) from exc
 
         try:
diff --git a/kedro/io/data_catalog.py b/kedro/io/data_catalog.py
index 8f40970885..2baf24dd23 100644
--- a/kedro/io/data_catalog.py
+++ b/kedro/io/data_catalog.py
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ def __init__(self, datasets):
     # Don't allow users to add/change attributes on the fly
     def __setattr__(self, key, value):
         msg = "Operation not allowed! "
-        if key in self.__dict__.keys():
+        if key in self.__dict__:
             msg += "Please change datasets through configuration."
         else:
             msg += "Please use DataCatalog.add() instead."
@@ -218,9 +218,7 @@ def _check_and_normalize_transformers(self):
 
         if excess_transformers:
             raise DataSetNotFoundError(
-                "Unexpected transformers for missing data_sets {}".format(
-                    ", ".join(excess_transformers)
-                )
+                f"Unexpected transformers for missing data_sets {', '.join(excess_transformers)}"
             )
 
         for data_set_name in missing_transformers:
@@ -624,9 +622,7 @@ def add_transformer(
 
         if not isinstance(transformer, AbstractTransformer):
             raise TypeError(
-                "Object of type {} is not an instance of AbstractTransformer".format(
-                    type(transformer)
-                )
+                f"Object of type {type(transformer)} is not an instance of AbstractTransformer"
             )
         if data_set_names is None:
             self._default_transformers.append(transformer)
diff --git a/tests/framework/cli/pipeline/test_pipeline.py b/tests/framework/cli/pipeline/test_pipeline.py
index 3ec5be0934..a1818243b3 100644
--- a/tests/framework/cli/pipeline/test_pipeline.py
+++ b/tests/framework/cli/pipeline/test_pipeline.py
@@ -92,12 +92,7 @@ def pipelines_dict():
 class TestPipelineCreateCommand:
     @pytest.mark.parametrize("env", [None, "local"])
     def test_create_pipeline(  # pylint: disable=too-many-locals
-        self,
-        fake_repo_path,
-        fake_project_cli,
-        fake_metadata,
-        env,
-        fake_package_path,
+        self, fake_repo_path, fake_project_cli, fake_metadata, env, fake_package_path
     ):
         """Test creation of a pipeline"""
         pipelines_dir = fake_package_path / "pipelines"
@@ -419,9 +414,7 @@ def test_bad_pipeline_name(
     ):
         """Test error message when bad pipeline name was provided."""
         result = CliRunner().invoke(
-            fake_project_cli,
-            ["pipeline", "delete", "-y", bad_name],
-            obj=fake_metadata,
+            fake_project_cli, ["pipeline", "delete", "-y", bad_name], obj=fake_metadata
         )
         assert result.exit_code
         assert error_message in result.output
@@ -547,9 +540,7 @@ def test_describe_pipeline(
         pipelines_dict,
     ):
         result = CliRunner().invoke(
-            fake_project_cli,
-            ["pipeline", "describe", pipeline_name],
-            obj=fake_metadata,
+            fake_project_cli, ["pipeline", "describe", pipeline_name], obj=fake_metadata
         )
 
         assert not result.exit_code
@@ -569,16 +560,10 @@ def test_not_found_pipeline(self, fake_project_cli, fake_metadata):
         assert expected_output in result.output
 
     def test_describe_pipeline_default(
-        self,
-        fake_project_cli,
-        fake_metadata,
-        yaml_dump_mock,
-        pipelines_dict,
+        self, fake_project_cli, fake_metadata, yaml_dump_mock, pipelines_dict
     ):
         result = CliRunner().invoke(
-            fake_project_cli,
-            ["pipeline", "describe"],
-            obj=fake_metadata,
+            fake_project_cli, ["pipeline", "describe"], obj=fake_metadata
         )
 
         assert not result.exit_code
@@ -597,7 +582,7 @@ def source(self, tmp_path) -> Path:
         source_dir.mkdir()
         (source_dir / "existing").mkdir()
         (source_dir / "existing" / "source_file").touch()
-        (source_dir / "existing" / "common").write_text("source")
+        (source_dir / "existing" / "common").write_text("source", encoding="utf-8")
         (source_dir / "new").mkdir()
         (source_dir / "new" / "source_file").touch()
         return source_dir
@@ -608,7 +593,7 @@ def test_sync_target_exists(self, source, tmp_path):
         target.mkdir()
         (target / "existing").mkdir()
         (target / "existing" / "target_file").touch()
-        (target / "existing" / "common").write_text("target")
+        (target / "existing" / "common").write_text("target", encoding="utf-8")
 
         _sync_dirs(source, target)
 
@@ -618,7 +603,7 @@ def test_sync_target_exists(self, source, tmp_path):
         assert (source / "new" / "source_file").is_file()
 
         assert (target / "existing" / "source_file").is_file()
-        assert (target / "existing" / "common").read_text() == "target"
+        assert (target / "existing" / "common").read_text(encoding="utf-8") == "target"
         assert (target / "existing" / "target_file").exists()
         assert (target / "new" / "source_file").is_file()
 
@@ -634,6 +619,6 @@ def test_sync_no_target(self, source, tmp_path):
         assert (source / "new" / "source_file").is_file()
 
         assert (target / "existing" / "source_file").is_file()
-        assert (target / "existing" / "common").read_text() == "source"
+        assert (target / "existing" / "common").read_text(encoding="utf-8") == "source"
         assert not (target / "existing" / "target_file").exists()
         assert (target / "new" / "source_file").is_file()
diff --git a/tests/framework/cli/test_starters.py b/tests/framework/cli/test_starters.py
index c2abc462e9..64aa57115c 100644
--- a/tests/framework/cli/test_starters.py
+++ b/tests/framework/cli/test_starters.py
@@ -93,9 +93,11 @@ def _assert_template_ok(
     assert len(generated_files) == FILES_IN_TEMPLATE
     assert full_path.exists()
     assert (full_path / ".gitignore").is_file()
-    assert project_name in (full_path / "README.md").read_text()
-    assert "KEDRO" in (full_path / ".gitignore").read_text()
-    assert kedro_version in (full_path / "src" / "requirements.txt").read_text()
+    assert project_name in (full_path / "README.md").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    assert "KEDRO" in (full_path / ".gitignore").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    assert kedro_version in (full_path / "src" / "requirements.txt").read_text(
+        encoding="utf-8"
+    )
     assert (full_path / "src" / python_package / "__init__.py").is_file()
 
 
@@ -110,8 +112,12 @@ def test_starter_list(fake_kedro_cli):
 
 def test_cookiecutter_json_matches_prompts_yml():
     """Validate the contents of the default config file."""
-    cookiecutter_json = json.loads((TEMPLATE_PATH / "cookiecutter.json").read_text())
-    prompts_yml = yaml.safe_load((TEMPLATE_PATH / "prompts.yml").read_text())
+    cookiecutter_json = json.loads(
+        (TEMPLATE_PATH / "cookiecutter.json").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    )
+    prompts_yml = yaml.safe_load(
+        (TEMPLATE_PATH / "prompts.yml").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    )
     assert set(cookiecutter_json) == set(prompts_yml) | {"kedro_version"}
 
 
@@ -245,7 +251,7 @@ def test_prompt_no_title(self, fake_kedro_cli):
 
     def test_prompt_bad_yaml(self, fake_kedro_cli):
         shutil.copytree(TEMPLATE_PATH, "template")
-        (Path("template") / "prompts.yml").write_text("invalid\tyaml")
+        (Path("template") / "prompts.yml").write_text("invalid\tyaml", encoding="utf-8")
         result = CliRunner().invoke(fake_kedro_cli, ["new", "--starter", "template"])
         assert result.exit_code != 0
         assert "Failed to generate project: could not load prompts.yml" in result.output
@@ -380,7 +386,7 @@ def test_config_empty(self, fake_kedro_cli):
 
     def test_config_bad_yaml(self, fake_kedro_cli):
         """Check the error if config YAML is invalid."""
-        Path("config.yml").write_text("invalid\tyaml")
+        Path("config.yml").write_text("invalid\tyaml", encoding="utf-8")
         result = CliRunner().invoke(fake_kedro_cli, ["new", "-v", "-c", "config.yml"])
         assert result.exit_code != 0
         assert "Failed to generate project: could not load config" in result.output
diff --git a/tests/framework/session/test_session.py b/tests/framework/session/test_session.py
index 749117f8a5..dcee20906f 100644
--- a/tests/framework/session/test_session.py
+++ b/tests/framework/session/test_session.py
@@ -222,11 +222,11 @@ def fake_project(tmp_path, local_logging_config, mock_package_name):
         }
     }
     toml_str = toml.dumps(payload)
-    pyproject_toml_path.write_text(toml_str)
+    pyproject_toml_path.write_text(toml_str, encoding="utf-8")
 
     env_logging = fake_project_dir / "conf" / "base" / "logging.yml"
     env_logging.parent.mkdir(parents=True)
-    env_logging.write_text(json.dumps(local_logging_config))
+    env_logging.write_text(json.dumps(local_logging_config), encoding="utf-8")
     (fake_project_dir / "conf" / "local").mkdir()
     return fake_project_dir