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The innovation biographies show that public policy making cannot ˵create″ innovations – they do, however, play an important role in shaping the overall conditions for innovation. The course for the development of renewable energies was set at the international, European, and national levels, as well as at regional and local levels. In order to meet the objectives, policies and measures have to be geared toward different tasks and problems in each individual phase of the innovation process. When the process was faced with strong resistance from lobby organizations or the political opposition, it was frequently possible to intervene at other political and administrative action levels. In many cases, actions coming from different levels took effect at staggered intervals, which intensified their impact, provided they were heading in the same direction. The task of harmonizing and coordinating the timing of policies and actions demanded a reflexive design that is both relevant to a number of different administrative and political levels, yet tailored to the process in question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]