The evolution of transnational European research in vocational education since the mid 1990s has been closely associated with the activities of various networks. They have been an indispensable means of supporting the researchers' involvement in a growing community. How can this process be traced? What patterns of community development emerge out of these networking activities? There is little evidence of research on these issues in European education. A methodological framework to be considered is social network analysis, which looks at social actors and their relationships and shows how communities develop. The following analysis, which may be described as a monitoring investigation, has been initiated in the context of developing a European research overview (ERO) in vocational education and training (VET) and human resource development (HRD). This has been carried out in cooperation between CEDEFOP and the Research Forum WIFO Berlin, supported by network research at the Free University Berlin. The analysis focuses on three inter-linked areas of transnational activity involving European researchers in VET and HRD: " involvement in the broad range of networks and events; " linkages between actors in project partnerships and networks; " participation in research conferences organised by major networks. The guiding question for this analysis is how communities of researchers emerge and change their profile through network activities. While organisations provide specific frameworks for collaboration and communication, they cannot 'build' the actual communities. These take shape in the course of networking activities (projects, workshops, conferences, publications) over a period of time, involving individual researchers in various combinations. The patterns of researcher's participation in network activities are traced by means of a statistical analysis which draws on a large stock of data covering the last ten years. The analysis has been complemented by using the network analysis tool UCINET. Results are produced in graphical format. Initial outcomes of the analysis of European networking in vocational education research are summed up below: " While the total involvement of researchers in any European activity is large and growing, the proportion of the highly involved researchers (several activities) remains small. This observation draws attention to the key role of relatively few 'multi-active' researchers in European collaboration. " Project partnerships operating in successive periods constitute individual and related networks. Partners involved in multiple co-participation form stronger ties between themselves. They represent a central group, functioning as boundary spanners for involving the remaining group members and as potential interfaces for knowledge transfer. " Annual research conferences attract large numbers of researchers, but repeated participation over a period of time is confined to a relatively small proportion. There is a high correlation between this group of frequent participants and the board membership of the supporting networks. Altogether, the various network activities have produced changing patterns of involvement, with formal and informal relationships, including an emerging core group of interrelated 'multi-active' individuals. These central actors are particularly able to promote collaboration and synergies in European research. They also have a strong potential for integrating researchers from the growing overall community; at the same time, they show a trend towards reproducing their internal relationships. The evidence derived from the above analysis can support European research networks in shaping their policies. At a general level, the tools for sharing information (mailing lists in particular) could be improved to reach both a wider research public and more focused groups of researchers in Europe. At a specific level, consideration may be given to finding more efficient ways of intensifying collaboration and strengthening the community in European vocational research.