Ethics Week 2027
Mar 8-9 Clinical Ethics Unconference
Mar 10 Workshops / Ski Day
Mar 11-12 Pediatric Ethics Conference
Call for abstract submissions open June 1 - September 30, 2026!
Interested in sharing your work at Ethics Week?
The call for submissions will remain open from Jun 1 - Sept 30, 2026
Mon + Tue: Lightning Talks, Peer-to-Peer Solution
Sharing Sessions, Panels, Posters
Wed: Workshops
Thu + Fri: Pediatric Ethics Conference Proposals
All abstracts will be double-blind peer reviewed with the exception of the Pediatric Ethics Conference proposals. We anticipate that notification of accepted submissions will be sent in November 2026.
We are excited to invite submissions for Ethics Week 2027 and look forward to highlighting the wide range of innovations, challenges, evolving practices, and collaborative conversations taking place across clinical ethics!
Consistent with the interactive and practice-oriented spirit of the Unconference, the first half of Ethics Week offers multiple submission formats designed to support a variety of presentation styles, project stages, and discussion goals. Some formats are intended for emerging ideas, collaborative problem-solving, and works in progress, while others are better suited for implemented initiatives, practical skill-building, or more developed projects with actionable outcomes and lessons learned. The final two days of Ethics Week are reserved for our Annual Children's Hospital Colorado Pediatric Ethics Conference. The Children's Ethics Team will consider proposals to be featured during the two-day conference.
We strongly encourage prospective presenters to carefully review the description and selection criteria of each submission type prior to submitting in order to identify the format that best aligns with their work and intended audience engagement.
To support continued innovation within the field, preference will be given to submissions that introduce new perspectives, evolving practices, under-explored challenges, or tangible applications relevant to the rapidly changing landscape of healthcare and healthcare ethics.
If you are unsure which submission format is the best fit for your work or have questions regarding the conference structure, expectations, or submission process, please do not hesitate to reach out. We are happy to help guide you toward the format that will best support both your goals and the overall conference experience!
Lightning Talks with Real-Time Crowdsourcing
March 8th + 9th
Description
Lightning Talks are fast-paced sessions designed to showcase innovative practices, emerging ideas, tools, workflows, educational models, or programmatic advancements in clinical ethics. Presenters will deliver a focused 5-minute presentation using no more than 3 slides. Talks should emphasize practical strategies, lessons learned, or innovations that attendees could adapt within their own institutions or clinical ethics programs.
Each presentation will be followed by a 3-minute interactive crowdsourcing session in which attendees will provide real-time feedback, implementation ideas, and problem-solving recommendations using polling and audience engagement software.
Submissions do not need to represent completed projects; however, projects that have been implemented may be given preference.
Please be prepared to provide:
- A brief abstract describing the innovation, practice, tool, workflow, or advancement you plan to discuss (150-word maximum)
- What specific challenge, gap, or need prompted this innovation or change (1-2 sentences)
- What lessons, strategies, or tools could attendees apply within their own settings (1-2 sentences)
- The stage your project is in (ex. pilot initiative)
- 2-3 example poll or crowdsourcing questions you plan to ask the audience
- What type of audience feedback or crowdsourced input are you hoping to receive
Peer-to-Peer Solution Sharing Sessions
March 8th + 9th
Description
Peer-to-Peer Solution-Sharing Sessions are highly interactive small-group discussions centered on real-world challenges facing clinical ethics programs and practitioners. Presenters will briefly introduce a persistent systems-level, operational, educational, or programmatic challenge affecting either:
- their own institution or ethics program, or
- the broader field of clinical ethics.
Rather than presenting finalized solutions, presenters will engage attendees in collaborative problem-solving discussions aimed at generating practical strategies, new approaches, and shared learning. Following the small-group discussions, presenters will report key insights and proposed solutions back to the larger Unconference audience.
Ideal submissions are those that invite collaboration, reflection, and collective innovation.
Please be prepared to provide:
- An abstract describing the challenge, tension, or unresolved issue you would like attendees to help address as well as why is this challenge important or timely for the field of clinical ethics (200-word maximum)
- What approaches or solutions have already been attempted, if any
- What type of feedback, collaboration, problem-solving, or outcomes are you hoping participants will contribute to or help generate through the discussion
Panel Discussions
March 8th + 9th
Description
Panel Discussions are designed to highlight collaborative initiatives, emerging national conversations, or innovative work that has evolved beyond initial conceptual development into implementation, evaluation, or broader systems impact. Panels should emphasize practical insights, interdisciplinary perspectives, and lessons learned that can inform future work in clinical ethics.
Because space is limited, preference will be given to panels that demonstrate meaningful outcomes, multi-institutional collaboration, or tangible evolution from prior innovation or unconference discussions into actionable practice.
Panels should prioritize discussion and audience engagement over lecture-style presentations.
Please be prepared to provide:
- A brief abstract describing the panel topic, initiative, or collaborative work (250-word maximum)
- What makes this topic particularly timely, innovative, or important to the future of clinical ethics
- What outcomes, implementation experiences, or lessons learned will be discussed
- How the audience will be engaged with
- What unique perspectives or disciplines are represented on the panel
- If this topic has been previously discussed within national clinical ethics spaces, how it advances, expands, or newly applies the conversation
Posters
March 8th + 9th
Description
Poster presentations provide an opportunity to share innovative programs, quality improvement initiatives, educational models, research, ethical analyses, or emerging work related to clinical ethics and healthcare ethics practice.
Posters may represent completed work, projects in development, or early-stage ideas. Poster sessions are intended to facilitate networking, discussion, and knowledge-sharing across institutions and disciplines.
Presenters whose submissions are not selected for Lightning Talks or other session formats may be invited to present their work as a poster.
Please be prepared to provide:
- A brief abstract or description of the poster (250-word maximum)
- What problem, question, or issue does the poster addresses
- What the key findings, insights, lessons learned, or proposed innovations are - If the work is still in progress at the time of submission, please describe anticipated findings, insights, lessons, innovations, or areas for discussion
Workshops
March 10th
Description
Workshops are extended, skill-based educational sessions designed to provide attendees with practical tools, frameworks, or competencies that can be directly applied within healthcare, ethics consultation, education, leadership, or organizational practice. Workshops should be highly interactive and prioritize participant engagement, experiential learning, and tangible skill development.
Workshops are open to interdisciplinary audiences and should be accessible to participants both within and outside of formal clinical ethics roles.
Because workshop space is limited, only a small number of submissions will be selected.
Please be prepared to provide:
- A workshop abstract describing the practical skill(s), framework(s), or competencies participants will learn, the interactive components or participant activities included in the workshop, and the intended audience (350-word maximum)
- What materials, technology, room setup, or space considerations are needed
- What level of clinical ethics related experience is most appropriate for attendees
- 2–3 learning objectives for the workshop
Pediatric Ethics Conference Presentation Proposals
March 11th + 12th
Description
While the Pediatric Ethics Conference primarily features invited presentations and panels from subject matter experts, the planning committee welcomes proposals for presentations addressing emerging, innovative, or under-explored issues within pediatric healthcare ethics.
Selected presentations may be incorporated into the conference agenda at the discretion of the planning committee. Preference will be given to proposals that address timely ethical challenges, offer practical insights relevant to pediatric healthcare settings, and contribute novel perspectives to ongoing conversations in pediatric ethics.
Proposals may focus on clinical ethics, organizational ethics, communication, education, policy, emerging technologies, systems-level issues, family dynamics, moral distress, cultural humility, complex decision-making, or other topics relevant to pediatric healthcare ethics practice.
Please be prepared to provide:
- An abstract describing the proposed presentation including what ethical issue, challenge, or emerging topic within pediatric healthcare this presentation will address and why this topic is particularly timely or important within pediatric ethics (350-word maximum)
- What practical insights, strategies, or lessons attendees will gain from this presentation
- The primary format of your proposed session
- How audience engagement or discussion will be incorporated into the session
- 2–3 learning objectives for the session