Blog12th June 2026
Embedding ethics in policymaking: a new rapid method to assess ethics impacts
Marija Antanavičiūtė
In late 2024, I joined the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB) on a 12-month secondment. Working towards their mission to embed ethics into decision-making, I developed a rapid ethics assessment – an approach that seeks to enable ethical impacts and considerations to be identified within the policy development process at pace.
My work at the NCOB built upon findings I gathered as part of the ESRC-funded Ethics & Expertise (E&E) project. In E&E, I worked with researchers from the UK, Germany, and Australia to understand how ethics advisory systems work and how we can compare them. Through interviewing more than 60 ethics advisors and civil servants we identified three main barriers to integrating ethics: the pace of policymaking, the lack of consensus on the most important ethical considerations, and the lack of pathways for knowledge integration.
To try and overcome these challenges, I set out to develop a decision-making support tool that was:
- quick to use while not oversimplifying substantial ethical tensions;
- practical and responsive to policymakers’ needs;
- adaptable and flexible, enabling users to respond effectively to changing contexts and different types of time pressures (including crises).
In early June 2026, the Rapid Ethics Assessment and Learning (REAL) method was published, a collaborative effort not only with the NCOB but also with the Faculty of Public Health (FPH) and many other organisations and institutions through extensive consultation.
Throughout the course of REAL’s development, we identified opportunities to pilot and refine the method with its intended user. One such occurrence stands out for me. In November 2025, I led a practical skills session at the Civil Service World conference in Leeds, alongside colleagues from the NCOB and the University of Birmingham. We invited a room of more than 100 people working with central and local government to apply a shortened version of REAL to a scenario-based crisis situation. Participants shared a wide range of suggestions and reflections on how the method could support different teams in practice; contributing to crisis management and resilience building efforts. I found the level of engagement in the room really encouraging. It reinforced both my own thinking and our research findings that REAL meets a clear need.
The REAL method is designed to be used as a prioritisation exercise, to recognise ethical tensions, clarify trade-offs and strengthen the legitimacy of decisions. It is made up of one preparatory and four main stages. We recommend that teams familiarise themselves by applying the method to a couple of their past projects. This will help them to understand the process and what is needed to complete an assessment.
In time-constrained situations, users can prioritise stages 2-4, which would mean the assessment could be completed within 1 hour or less. And repeated use of REAL will shorten the time needed to complete it, as users’ ethical reflection skills and capabilities are likely to develop over time.
Working on the REAL method has been highly valuable for me, both personally and professionally. It was a great learning opportunity to lead a truly collaborative and productive knowledge exchange between academics, non-academic research teams, and policy professionals. I found the enthusiasm and interest shown by policy professionals, not to mention the time they generously contributed to this project, deeply motivating. Their contributions highlighted the value of embedding ethics into policymaking more meaningfully. I hope this work adds to the growing research agenda on integrating ethical insights into policymaking, and encourages the development of more innovative and practical tools.
I would like to extend my thanks to NCOB colleagues, the FPH Ethics Committee, E&E research team and Advisory Board who supported this work.
Now that we have published this first iteration of the method, we are seeking public sector partners to work with us in testing it. We are keen to gain a better understanding of the impact it can have on decision-making practices, and in user reflections on how well it integrates with required ways of working.
If you would like to trial the REAL method with your team and contribute to this work please contact the NCOB on press@nuffieldbioethics.org or the Ethics and Expertise team on j.pykett@bham.ac.uk.