The Variscan orogeny, a mountain-building event that spanned a staggering more than 100 million years (c. 400-270 million years ago), has left its mark on structures stretching across Europe, North Africa, and even the Appalachian mountains of North America. This ancient event was shaped by the collision of two enormous landmasses—Laurussia and Gondwana—whose coastlines and boundaries were anything but straightforward. These irregular edges, formed when the Rheic and Paleo-Tethys oceans opened, played a crucial role in the way the continents converged. As the continents came together, the uneven boundaries triggered a wide variety of geological processes over different places and times. These processes included the subduction of oceanic crust, the extension of the upper continental plate, large-scale indentation of the crust, and the twisting and bending of mountain chains. Recent research, using tools like detrital zircon dating, geophysical studies, and tracking the pressure-temperature-time-deformation (P-T-t-D) history of rocks, has helped scientists get a clearer picture of the complex events that occurred during this time. To truly understand the paleogeography and geodynamics of the Variscan orogeny, scientists need to combine data from many different fields. We encourage contributions from all kinds of research, whether it’s looking at the structure of the Earth’s crust and mantle, the conditions under which mountain-building occurred, or how magma and metamorphic processes played a role. Studies from both sides of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic are welcome, helping us develop an exciting new perspective on this ancient and influential orogenic system.