This year, Design Exchange, Canada’s design museum, announced the launch of EDIT: Expo for Design, Innovation, and Technology. Set in a 150,000 sq.-ft. abandoned factory transformed into an ultramodern world where design, innovation, and technology are solutions to today’s grand challenges, EDIT showcased projects that are making a difference.

Working alongside program directors and curators as part of the founding committee, it brought to life the themes of shelter/cities, care, and educate. The approach to the design was simple – content is the hero. Each exhibit was infused with many impactful and amazing stories, and the role of the design was to compliment them uniquely.

The projects collectively brought to life this year’s overarching optimistic message of prosperity for all which was inspired by the UN development programme's (UNDP) global goals for sustainable development. The UN’s sustainable development goals include eradicating poverty, combating climate change, improving health and education, and more by 2030. Through an array of participatory experiences, talks, installations, and workshops, design visionaries from across the globe were enticed to attend the event.

The shelter and cities exhibit showcased architectural innovations and technologies that seek to bridge the gap between city and nature. Visitors could learn how a city's waste can be mined for data, and how shorelines are being redesigned to protect coastal communities from changing climates.

From robotic prosthetics to drone-delivered medical supplies and low-cost tools, the care exhibition demonstrated how design is rethinking healthcare as we know it and making it more affordable and accessible for off-grid communities. This eye-opening display was complemented by an interactive “Drone Zone” and a health tech pavilion showcasing everything from 3D-printed braces and wearable technologies for amputees.

The Educate exhibit helped attendees discover how they can empower the next generation and expand access to education. Today's youth are tomorrow's trailblazers. From tablets featuring crowd-sourced curriculum to enduring technologies like abacuses and slide rulers, the exhibit took visitors around the world to witness innovative education models that are breaking cycles of poverty and discrimination.

As part of Canada’s 150th-anniversary celebration, the ten-day immersive festival of the future put Canada on the international design news stage. It was estimated that 35,000 people spanning a diverse demographic profile - from local families to design professionals from around the world – visited the festival. This was a design event not just for designers. EDIT promised to shift perspectives and spark meaningful conversations, and it did just that. Toronto Mayor John Tory called EDIT a celebration of disrupters, innovators, and those who think outside the box; and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke in a video about his passion for how design, innovation, and technology intersect.