In this year of the big UNESCO Conference called every 12 or so years ever since 1949, known as CONFINTEA VII and convened in Marrakech in June, this Bulletin will stand out as the only general or generic rather than single-theme number in the usual six numbers a year. The first 2022 Bulletin, No 41, co-edited by Maeva Gauthier and Niharika Kaul, built groundwork to feed into and influence UNESCO’s later-established 3^rd Higher Education Conference as a Special Issue.

The current Bulletin No 42 has a rich and diverse repertoire of articles extending from the fully global to the very local. It serves as a preview or precursor and trailer to other Special Issues planned for 2022. It is also likely to be the last occasion when I will write the Editorial, while remaining Editor for this year and connected if that proves helpful.