In October 2018 the Council of Europe and the Anchor Institutions Task Force organized a conference at Dublin City University on the local mission of higher education. The conference gave rise to a book that has just been published by Glasnevin Publishers. Edited by Sjur Bergan (Council of Europe), Ira Harkavy (Anchor Institution Task Force) and Ronaldo Munch (Dublin City University), the book discusses the local mission of higher education as a European challenge, provides examples of how eight European universities work with their local communities, and also includes two articles offering a South African and a global perspective, respectively.