The headline exhibition at this year's EDIT festival in Toronto features projects that address global issues like pollution, immigration and gender equality.

Curated by Canadian designer Bruce Mau, Prosperity for All encompasses 12,000 square feet of the as part of the inaugural EDIT – Expo for Design Innovation and Technology.

Mau has selected projects that demonstrate how designers can use their talents to better the people's lives, showcasing "how design is solving the world's greatest problems".

"Design creates more meaning and opportunities as our world becomes increasingly driven by purpose and sustainable human development," said Mau. "Design is a leadership methodology that is solving the challenges we're facing today, to create a better tomorrow."

"The way we think to solve problems and create value is through design, as it gives us the ability to envision the future and systematically work to realise that vision," he added.

Examples on show include 16-year-old Achilleas Souras' SOS Save Our Souls project, which involved creating temporary shelters for refugees from discarded life jackets. Collected from the shores of Lesbos, the Greek island that has become a regular landing place for refugees entering Europe, the floatation devices are used to build igloo-like waterproof structures.

Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde is presenting a prototype of his Smog Free Tower, which sucks pollution out of the air and compresses the particles. Launched in Rotterdam and exhibited in Beijing last year, the seven-metre-tall metal tower is described as the largest air purifier in the world.

A community centre built to offer training for women in Rwanda by New York-based Sharon Davis Design forms part of the show, along with details about the economic redevelopment of the remote Fogo Island community by Canadian entrepreneur Zita Cobb.

These innovative projects contrast photographer Paolo Pellegrin's images of global conflicts, which are hung around the space.

Prosperity for All is the overriding theme for this year's EDIT, which is curated to address the points covered in the United Nations Development Program's 17 Goals for Sustainable Development.

The projects form an installation created by production company Freeman, for which Mau serves as chief design officer. Models and prototypes of the projects are displayed in front of large boards, some of which feature screens for showing video content.

The exhibit is built using only materials that can be reused or recycled, as the display is planned to travel internationally.

EDIT runs 28 September to 7 October 2017, and also involves talks and panels discussions themed around how design can change the world.