ABSTRACT
The second case study presents a different situation with a different decision outcome. Although the legal situation in this case is the same as in the first one, especially the differing organisational conditions led to courses of action and decision outcomes completely different from those observed in the first case. Diiren, which is in the centre of the second case study, was one of the first communities in Germany to construct a bio mechanical waste treatment plant. The main goal of the present chapter is to explain why this most striking and innovative decision was taken in Duren. The making of this decision implied the taking of considerable risks. I will argue that the institutional conditions in Düren absorbed uncertainty and re-allocated responsibility and thus allowed the organisation to take the risks connected with the decision. Thus, the surprising decision outcome, which is in conflict with the legal prescriptions as they appeared in 1998, was achieved due to organisational peculiarities in the community.
