Human ecology and indispensable components of a quality system in vocational education are two operational frameworks that could help to facilitate cross-national cooperation in vocational education. As the exhaustion of natural resources is recognized as resulting partly from the dysfunctional behavior of people, human ecology becomes a necessary frame of reference for the development of vocational education programs. Implications of human ecological research will be used to indicate tolerance levels for environmental strain on people. The aim in curriculum development for vocational education should be to give priority to an extensive common prevocational curriculum preceding specialized skill training to lessen school stress. Another traditional issue that needs reconsideration in human ecological terms is general human development versus work force utilization. The second framework for cross-national cooperation in vocational education calls for definition of components that constitute a quality system in vocational education in different countries. These components are emphases on (1) non-job-specific interpersonal skills and skills related to coping in the work environment, (2) the integration of general and vocational education, (3) basic skills, (4) sequencing curricula for lifelong vocational learning, and (5) the formation of compound systems for in-school and out-of-school learning resources. (Questions and answers are appended.) (YLB)