Purpose: This paper seeks to concentrate on bottom-up approaches in order to promote a European vocational education and training (VET) concept. The overall aim of this article is to demonstrate that sophisticated approaches still have a chance of becoming common practice in European countries. Design/methodology/approach: The centre of the article is the discussion of a core occupational profile called ECO-recycler, which tends to be an alternative to the discussion of a uniform European Qualification Framework. The method of participatory discourse is applied in order to shape a VET space jointly with European partners. However, the partnership should not only discuss an abstract level because the implementation of the ECO-recycler is the main target of the discourse and it will be demonstrated how it works. Findings: After the clarification of a bottom-up approach, the implementation process of a core occupational profile in the partner countries is described. Research limitations/implications: The empirical approach for the creation of work process based core occupational profiles will be offered. Practical implications: European policies must be changed if these approaches are pursued. Originality/value: This article offers an alternative to existing European policy and will be of interest to those in the field. (Contains 4 figures and 2 notes.)