In late October, the Azure Human/Nature conference celebrated its inaugural edition in downtown Toronto.

Hosted at the waterfront campus of George Brown College, more than 250 attendees and speakers from across North America and around the world transformed a slice of the city into a wellspring of inspiration, thought leadership and multi-disciplinary knowledge exchange. Throughout two days of keynotes, panels and workshops, our team was privileged to witness an evolving global conversation, where dialogues were increasingly informed and enriched by the context. As the conference unfolded, speakers and panelists referenced what they’d learned from their peers hours before, creating new points of connection, and opening up new paradigms for design practice. Below, our editors round up our first — of many to come — learnings from two unforgettable days.