Public Engagement and Discussions
The Centre for Ethics helps bring questions of values into focus, creates opportunities for meaningful and informed discussion, and supports decision-making that takes into account the needs and responsibilities of different individuals, groups, and institutions.
We work closely with government agencies, local authorities, educational and healthcare institutions, research organisations, businesses, non-governmental organisations, and communities. Our collaborations encompass consultancy, expert assessments, training, research, public discussions, codes of ethics, and guidance materials.
Values Development in Education
The Centre for Ethics has helped schools and kindergartens articulate their core values, integrate them into leadership, teaching and everyday relationships, and evaluate their activities as a whole. The Good School and Good Kindergarten models support institutions in self-evaluation and in setting goals for further development.
In 2011 and 2012, the Centre trained 40 values education advisers. Of these, 26 became the Centre’s contractual partners, known as critical friends, who went on to support schools and kindergartens in processes of values development and self-evaluation. A critical friend did not come to assess an institution or provide ready-made solutions. Rather, they helped school leaders and staff to identify more clearly their strengths and areas for development, and to reflect on how their everyday choices aligned with their agreed values.
The first major national educational project the Centre for Ethics undertook was “Values Development in Estonian Society 2009–2013”, with continuing programmes in 2015–2020 and 2021–2025. The project, funded by the Ministry of Education and Research, had two targets: firstly, the education system – to increase learners’ autonomy to be able to decide upon their values; secondly, society as a whole – to inspire discussion and reflection on values. To this end, the Centre published over 30 books and created methodological guidelines as well as value games (most notably “A Hundred Choices: A Discussion Game about Ethics”), organised multiple conferences, and held training sessions.
In an interview given near the end of the project, Professor Margit Sutrop, Head of the Centre, said:
The Centre for Ethics has provided the vocabulary, methodology, and framework in which to think about an organisation’s activities. I am optimistic that schools and kindergartens can build on this. As we sometimes say at conferences: we have many, many good schools and kindergartens and they are worth maintaining and developing and exchanging experiences with.
Educators’ Codes of Ethics
The Centre for Ethics coordinated the development of the Estonian Teachers’ Code of Ethics, a process that began in 2023. In 2025, the Centre for Ethics also assumed a leading role in developing the Estonian Youth Workers’ Code of Ethics. Both processes aimed to initiate discussion on the values and principles of professional ethics in teaching and youth work, as well as on the functions of a code of ethics. Nationwide working groups were established to draft the codes, bringing together numerous professional associations and representative organisations from the education and youth sectors. Public forums and a feedback process were also organised, culminating in the completion of the Estonian Teachers’ Code of Ethics (2026) and the Estonian Youth Workers’ Code of Ethics (2026).
Transition to Estonian-Language Education
Between 2023 and 2025, the Centre’s education team led a project supporting kindergartens in Ida-Viru County in their transition to Estonian-language education through a values-based approach. Language change was addressed alongside questions of leadership culture, inclusion, mentoring, children’s well-being, and the development of a shared values framework.
In 2022, the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) adopted the amendments for a full transition to Estonian-language education by 2030. Previously, some kindergartens and schools provided education partly or fully in Russian. To ease the transition set to begin in 2024, and to reform not only the language being taught but also to include previously Russian-speaking education institutions in the Estonian educational value system, the Ministry of Education and Research provided funding for the project “Supporting a values-based transition to Estonian-language education” (2023–2025). The project was led and managed by the Centre for Ethics’ education team.
Ene Tigas, one of the project managers, sat down with the participants after it ended to reflect on the process:
According to the kindergartens, the biggest changes took place in management openness and inclusion: employees better perceived what the manager was doing for them and for their good. Mentoring, supporting language development (language clubs and training) and developing a support system for children with special needs also emerged as strong areas. However, finding time for mentoring and motivating the mentees were cited as obstacles – mentors were often more active. Despite this, they found that launching a mentoring system laid the foundation for supporting employees and their cooperation.
Many kindergartens defined new values and developed a shared vision of a good kindergarten. Practical changes included updating daily schedules, for example by offering flexible rest time, where some children can sleep while others engage in quiet activities. Changes were also made to pedagogical meetings, with more time allocated to discussing practices and future actions.
Public Discussion and Policy Development
The Centre’s experts take part in public debates, contribute to media discussions on ethical issues, and provide expertise for legislative processes and public policy development. The topics they address range from patients’ end-of-life wishes and teacher ethics to research integrity, artificial intelligence, environmental responsibility, and intergenerational justice
Between 2022 and 2024, the science communication initiative Tartu World University, part of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 programme, brought researchers and communities into sustained dialogue across Southern Estonia. What began as knowledge-sharing evolved into a reciprocal process in which scientists and communities learned from one another.
The initiative engaged 13 communities and addressed topics ranging from local development and culture to environmental and social change. Across these discussions, a common theme emerged: a strong interest in community and belonging.
A distinctive feature of the project was its long-term collaboration with local organisers, which enabled in-depth interviews with community representatives. These explored understandings of community, challenges facing rural areas in Southern Estonia, and the role of local value cultures in everyday life. Additional insights emerged from dialogue evenings in Peipsiääre municipality, which fostered reflection and mutual learning.
Tartu World University demonstrated that science communication is not only about sharing knowledge but also about creating spaces for dialogue, examining values, and learning together.
Discussion and Values Games
How can people be encouraged to talk about values in a way that leaves no one feeling attacked and makes everyone want to engage? This is the question that the Centre for Ethics set out to answer in 2011, laying out the foundation for what has since become one of its most influential areas of work: the development of discussion and values-based games.
Since then, the Centre for Ethics has consistently developed this distinctive and impactful field. It all began with a values-based game for teachers, offering an engaging and safe way to explore ethical questions and discuss complex issues. From this first step, something greater than a single project emerged. It set a snowball in motion that has grown into a strong area of expertise.
Over the years, the development of values-based games – for pupils, doctors and nurses, for anyone engaging in dialogic communication – has become both a substantive and methodological strength of the Centre. Each new game, every round of testing, and every discussion has added new layers to the understanding of how people think, debate, listen, and make sense of values.
Selected publication
Harro-Loit, H., & Parder, M.-L. (2025). Gamifying the didactics of communication ethics: Methodology of the serious game of moral choices. In ICERI2025 proceedings (pp. 3646–3652). IATED Digital Library.
A key milestone was the discussion game “A Hundred Choices: A Discussion Game About Ethics,” published in 2019. Based on real-life scenarios, it invites players to explore both serious and everyday ethical dilemmas in a safe and open environment. Beyond encouraging discussion, the game helps develop argumentation skills, broaden perspectives, and deepen understanding of oneself and others.
Designed for a wide audience, the game can be used in formal education as well as informal settings among friends or colleagues. Its versatility has made it a dynamic and enduring format.
Over time, “A Hundred Choices: A Discussion Game About Ethics” has undergone several rounds of development and renewal. Today, it exists both as a board game and a digital version, available in Estonian and English. The English version also includes a compact mini edition, easy to bring to the table and start a conversation. The games can be purchased and borrowed, helping them reach a wide range of audiences.
What began as a single game for teachers has since led the Centre for Ethics into international research projects. The accumulated experience in exploring values and designing discussions has proven to be applicable far beyond its original scope.
This is a story of how an idea grows into a movement: how discussion becomes a game, a game becomes a method, and a method becomes expertise that brings people together, opens minds, and creates space for meaningful dialogue.
