Table 1 Principles of open policy practice (Collaboration, Openness, Causality, Criticism, Intentionality principles)

Collaboration

Knowledge work is performed together in aim to produce shared information.

Openness

All work and information are openly available for reading and contributing to anyone interested at all times. If there are exceptions, these must be publicly justified.

Causality

The focus is on understanding and describing the causal relations between the decision options and the intended outcomes. The aim is to predict what impacts will likely occur if a particular decision option is chosen.

Criticism

All information presented can be criticised based on relevance and accordance to observations. The aim is to reject ideas, hypotheses — and ultimately decision options — that do not hold against critique.

Intentionality

The decision-makers explicate their objectives and decision options under consideration. Additionally, values of other participants or stakeholders are documented and considered.