Although the global Covid-19 pandemic is still affecting our lives enormously, we know that a new era of deep reflection about ‘normality’, our planet and our existence on it has also begun. The ‘Education in Europe and the Covid-19 Pandemic’ double Special Issue intends to be part of this reflexive discussion about the post-pandemic European education policy and research space. This is a space shaped continuously by crises and opportunities, by utopias of a shared progressive and liberal education for all, but also the dystopias of nationalism, populism, climate destruction and now a global health emergency. This editorial offers an overview of the current crisis context and of the articles; further, it positions the journal within the post-pandemic research and policy debate about how to understand the impact of the pandemic on the changing forms of education and its enduring inequalities.