diff --git a/designer/restmodel/src/main/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/restmodel/definition/package.scala b/designer/restmodel/src/main/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/restmodel/definition/package.scala
index f28942f62d6..11dcd56935f 100644
--- a/designer/restmodel/src/main/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/restmodel/definition/package.scala
+++ b/designer/restmodel/src/main/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/restmodel/definition/package.scala
@@ -50,8 +50,10 @@ package object definition {
       branchParam: Boolean,
       hintText: Option[String],
       label: String,
-      // This attribute is used only by external project
-      requiredParam: Boolean,
+      // This attribute is in use only by the external project and was introduced in the 1.18 version
+      // The option is for decoder backward compatibility to decode responses from older versions
+      // The option can be removed in future releases
+      requiredParam: Option[Boolean],
   )
 
   @JsonCodec(encodeOnly = true) final case class UIComponentDefinition(
diff --git a/designer/server/src/main/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/ui/definition/DefinitionsService.scala b/designer/server/src/main/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/ui/definition/DefinitionsService.scala
index 56c0eb77e07..992b170e4be 100644
--- a/designer/server/src/main/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/ui/definition/DefinitionsService.scala
+++ b/designer/server/src/main/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/ui/definition/DefinitionsService.scala
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ object DefinitionsService {
       branchParam = parameter.branchParam,
       hintText = parameter.hintText,
       label = parameter.label,
-      requiredParam = !parameter.isOptional,
+      requiredParam = Some(!parameter.isOptional),
     )
   }
 
diff --git a/docs-internal/api/nu-designer-openapi.yaml b/docs-internal/api/nu-designer-openapi.yaml
index b3c4e8221f6..be566e061b4 100644
--- a/docs-internal/api/nu-designer-openapi.yaml
+++ b/docs-internal/api/nu-designer-openapi.yaml
@@ -6993,7 +6993,6 @@ components:
       - additionalVariables
       - branchParam
       - label
-      - requiredParam
       properties:
         name:
           type: string
@@ -7027,7 +7026,9 @@ components:
         label:
           type: string
         requiredParam:
-          type: boolean
+          type:
+          - boolean
+          - 'null'
     UIValueParameterDto:
       title: UIValueParameterDto
       type: object
diff --git a/docs/Changelog.md b/docs/Changelog.md
index 822658178b7..45036e43991 100644
--- a/docs/Changelog.md
+++ b/docs/Changelog.md
@@ -40,6 +40,15 @@
 * Flink upgrade to 1.19.1. Note: it is possible to use Nussknacker with older versions of Flink, but it requires some extra steps. See [Migration guide](MigrationGuide.md) for details.
 * Performance optimisations of the serialisation of events passing through Flink's `DataStream`s.
 
+### 1.18.1 (Not released yet)
+
+* [#7207](https://github.com/TouK/nussknacker/pull/7207) Fixed minor clipboard, keyboard and focus related bugs
+* [#7237](https://github.com/TouK/nussknacker/pull/7237) Fix: ToJsonEncoder keeps order fields during encoding map
+* [#7240](https://github.com/TouK/nussknacker/pull/7240) Fixed race condition problem during SpEL expression evaluation
+* [#7269](https://github.com/TouK/nussknacker/pull/7269) Fixed focus scrolling in expression editor
+* [#7270](https://github.com/TouK/nussknacker/pull/7270) Savepoint deserialization fixup - some taken savepoints (e.g. for scenarios with async enrichers) were not deserializable which led to errors during redeployments on Flink
+* [#7279](https://github.com/TouK/nussknacker/pull/7279) Fixed Flink TaskManager and Designer containers restarts in installation example
+
 ### 1.18.0 (22 November 2024)
 
 * [#6944](https://github.com/TouK/nussknacker/pull/6944) [#7166](https://github.com/TouK/nussknacker/pull/7166) Changes around adhoc testing feature
@@ -132,11 +141,6 @@
 * [#7190](https://github.com/TouK/nussknacker/pull/7190) Fix "Failed to get node validation" when opening fragment node details for referencing non-existing fragment 
 * [#7215](https://github.com/TouK/nussknacker/pull/7215) Change typing text to spinner during validation and provide delayed adding on enter until validation finishes in a scenario labels and fragment input
 
-### 1.18.1 (Not released yet)
-
-* [#7207](https://github.com/TouK/nussknacker/pull/7207) Fixed minor clipboard, keyboard and focus related bugs
-* [#7270](https://github.com/TouK/nussknacker/pull/7270) Savepoint deserialization fixup - some taken savepoints (e.g. for scenarios with async enrichers) were not deserializable which led to errors during redeployments on Flink
-
 ## 1.17
 
 #### Highlights
diff --git a/examples/installation/docker-compose.yml b/examples/installation/docker-compose.yml
index a8e977f117a..8bc5c3e84ad 100644
--- a/examples/installation/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/examples/installation/docker-compose.yml
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ services:
       SCHEMA_REGISTRY_URL: "http://schema-registry:8081"
       INFLUXDB_URL: "http://influxdb:8086"
       FLINK_REST_URL: "http://flink-jobmanager:8081"
-      JDK_JAVA_OPTIONS: "-Xmx1024M"
+      JDK_JAVA_OPTIONS: "-Xmx400M -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=300M -XX:MaxDirectMemorySize=100M"
       USAGE_REPORTS_SOURCE: "example-installation-docker-compose"
     depends_on:
       postgres:
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ services:
     deploy:
       resources:
         limits:
-          memory: 1024M
+          memory: 1500M
 
   telegraf:
     image: telegraf:1.30.2
diff --git a/examples/installation/flink/flink-properties.yml b/examples/installation/flink/flink-properties.yml
index dd0b7fed688..c64ec68ca3e 100644
--- a/examples/installation/flink/flink-properties.yml
+++ b/examples/installation/flink/flink-properties.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 taskmanager.numberOfTaskSlots: 8
+# Nu requires a little bit more metaspace than Flink default allocate based on process size
+taskmanager.memory.process.size: 1500m
+taskmanager.memory.jvm-metaspace.size: 400m
+
 state.backend.type: filesystem
 state.checkpoints.dir: file:///opt/flink/data/checkpoints
 state.savepoints.dir: file:///opt/flink/data/savepoints
diff --git a/scenario-compiler/src/main/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/engine/spel/SpelExpression.scala b/scenario-compiler/src/main/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/engine/spel/SpelExpression.scala
index 07b67ff495f..2fab26c6e41 100644
--- a/scenario-compiler/src/main/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/engine/spel/SpelExpression.scala
+++ b/scenario-compiler/src/main/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/engine/spel/SpelExpression.scala
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ import pl.touk.nussknacker.engine.spel.SpelExpressionParseError.ExpressionCompil
 import pl.touk.nussknacker.engine.spel.SpelExpressionParser.Flavour
 import pl.touk.nussknacker.engine.spel.internal.EvaluationContextPreparer
 
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean
 import scala.util.control.NonFatal
 
 /**
@@ -52,11 +53,24 @@ final case class ParsedSpelExpression(
     parser: () => ValidatedNel[ExpressionParseError, Expression],
     initial: Expression
 ) extends LazyLogging {
-  @volatile var parsed: Expression = initial
+  @volatile var parsed: Expression        = initial
+  private val firstInterpretationFinished = new AtomicBoolean()
 
   def getValue[T](context: EvaluationContext, desiredResultType: Class[_]): T = {
-    def value(): T = parsed.getValue(context, desiredResultType).asInstanceOf[T]
-
+    def value(): T = {
+      // There is a bug in Spring's SpelExpression class: interpretedCount variable is not synchronized with ReflectiveMethodExecutor.didArgumentConversionOccur.
+      // The latter mentioned method check argumentConversionOccurred Boolean which could be false not because conversion not occurred but because method.invoke()
+      // isn't finished yet. Due to this problem an expression that shouldn't be compiled might be compiled. It generates IllegalStateException errors in further evaluations of the expression.
+      if (!firstInterpretationFinished.get()) {
+        synchronized {
+          val valueToReturn = parsed.getValue(context, desiredResultType).asInstanceOf[T]
+          firstInterpretationFinished.set(true)
+          valueToReturn
+        }
+      } else {
+        parsed.getValue(context, desiredResultType).asInstanceOf[T]
+      }
+    }
     try {
       value()
     } catch {
diff --git a/scenario-compiler/src/test/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/engine/spel/SpelExpressionSpec.scala b/scenario-compiler/src/test/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/engine/spel/SpelExpressionSpec.scala
index e0b8f635534..91cdd3b104b 100644
--- a/scenario-compiler/src/test/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/engine/spel/SpelExpressionSpec.scala
+++ b/scenario-compiler/src/test/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/engine/spel/SpelExpressionSpec.scala
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import org.scalatest.OptionValues
 import org.scalatest.funsuite.AnyFunSuite
 import org.scalatest.matchers.should.Matchers
 import org.scalatest.prop.TableDrivenPropertyChecks._
+import org.scalatest.time.SpanSugar.convertIntToGrainOfTime
 import org.scalatestplus.scalacheck.ScalaCheckDrivenPropertyChecks
 import org.springframework.util.{NumberUtils, StringUtils}
 import pl.touk.nussknacker.engine.api.context.ValidationContext
@@ -67,11 +68,14 @@ import java.nio.charset.{Charset, StandardCharsets}
 import java.time.chrono.{ChronoLocalDate, ChronoLocalDateTime}
 import java.time.{LocalDate, LocalDateTime, LocalTime, ZoneId, ZoneOffset}
 import java.util
+import java.util.concurrent.Executors
 import java.util.{Collections, Currency, List => JList, Locale, Map => JMap, Optional, UUID}
 import scala.annotation.varargs
+import scala.concurrent.{Await, ExecutionContext, Future, Promise}
 import scala.jdk.CollectionConverters._
 import scala.language.implicitConversions
 import scala.reflect.runtime.universe._
+import scala.util.{Failure, Success}
 
 class SpelExpressionSpec extends AnyFunSuite with Matchers with ValidatedValuesDetailedMessage with OptionValues {
 
@@ -2057,6 +2061,50 @@ class SpelExpressionSpec extends AnyFunSuite with Matchers with ValidatedValuesD
     parsed.evaluateSync[Any](customCtx) shouldBe 11
   }
 
+  // This test is ignored as it was indeterministic and ugly, but it was used to verify race condition problems on
+  // ParsedSpelExpression.getValue. Without the synchronized block inside its method the test would fail the majority of times
+  ignore(
+    "should not throw 'Failed to instantiate CompiledExpression' when getValue is called on ParsedSpelExpression by multiple threads"
+  ) {
+    val spelExpression =
+      parse[LocalDateTime]("T(java.time.LocalDateTime).now().minusDays(14)", ctx).validValue.expression
+        .asInstanceOf[SpelExpression]
+
+    val threadPool                                        = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(1000)
+    implicit val customExecutionContext: ExecutionContext = ExecutionContext.fromExecutor(threadPool)
+
+    // A promise to signal when an exception occurs
+    val failurePromise = Promise[Unit]()
+
+    val tasks = (1 to 10000).map { _ =>
+      Future {
+        try {
+          Thread.sleep(100)
+          // evaluate calls getValue on problematic SpelExpression object
+          spelExpression.evaluate[LocalDateTime](Context("fooId"), Map.empty)
+        } catch {
+          // The real problematic exception is wrapped in SpelExpressionEvaluationException by evaluate method
+          case e: SpelExpressionEvaluationException =>
+            failurePromise.tryFailure(e.cause)
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    val firstFailureOrCompletion = Future.firstCompletedOf(Seq(Future.sequence(tasks), failurePromise.future))
+
+    firstFailureOrCompletion.onComplete {
+      case Success(_) =>
+        println("All tasks completed successfully.")
+        threadPool.shutdown()
+      case Failure(e: IllegalStateException) if e.getMessage == "Failed to instantiate CompiledExpression" =>
+        fail("Exception occurred due to race condition.", e)
+        threadPool.shutdown()
+      case Failure(e) =>
+        fail("Unknown exception occurred", e)
+        threadPool.shutdown()
+    }
+    Await.result(firstFailureOrCompletion, 15.seconds)
+  }
+
 }
 
 case class SampleObject(list: java.util.List[SampleValue])
diff --git a/utils/utils/src/main/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/engine/util/json/ToJsonEncoder.scala b/utils/utils/src/main/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/engine/util/json/ToJsonEncoder.scala
index a57223fdd4c..649c777e593 100644
--- a/utils/utils/src/main/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/engine/util/json/ToJsonEncoder.scala
+++ b/utils/utils/src/main/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/engine/util/json/ToJsonEncoder.scala
@@ -7,10 +7,7 @@ import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter
 import io.circe.{Encoder, Json}
 import io.circe.Json._
 import pl.touk.nussknacker.engine.api.DisplayJson
-import pl.touk.nussknacker.engine.util.Implicits._
-
 import java.util.ServiceLoader
-
 import java.util.UUID
 import scala.jdk.CollectionConverters._
 
@@ -89,9 +86,10 @@ case class ToJsonEncoder(
   //  toString on keys.
   private def encodeMap(map: Map[_, _]) = {
     val mapWithStringKeys = map.view.map { case (k, v) =>
-      k.toString -> v
-    }.toMap
-    fromFields(mapWithStringKeys.mapValuesNow(encode))
+      k.toString -> encode(v)
+    }
+
+    fromFields(mapWithStringKeys)
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/utils/utils/src/test/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/engine/util/json/ToJsonEncoderSpec.scala b/utils/utils/src/test/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/engine/util/json/ToJsonEncoderSpec.scala
index 05322f742f2..3602f4bda0f 100644
--- a/utils/utils/src/test/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/engine/util/json/ToJsonEncoderSpec.scala
+++ b/utils/utils/src/test/scala/pl/touk/nussknacker/engine/util/json/ToJsonEncoderSpec.scala
@@ -101,6 +101,22 @@ class ToJsonEncoderSpec extends AnyFunSpec with Matchers {
 
   }
 
+  it("should convert map to json and keep order of keys") {
+    val map = ListMap(
+      "intNumber"     -> 42,
+      "floatNumber"   -> 42.42,
+      "someTimestamp" -> 1496930555793L,
+      "someString"    -> "hello",
+      "booleanValue"  -> true
+    )
+
+    val expectedJson =
+      """{"intNumber":42,"floatNumber":42.42,"someTimestamp":1496930555793,"someString":"hello","booleanValue":true}"""
+
+    // We compare string because we want to check the order
+    encoder.encode(map).noSpaces shouldBe expectedJson
+  }
+
 }
 
 class CustomJsonEncoderCustomisation1 extends ToJsonEncoderCustomisation {