We report on the completed second volume of Vegetation Classification and Survey (VCS), whose content grew by 41% compared to the first volume. We were able to diversify article types, geographic coverage, authors and editorial team, the latter now consisting of 62 researchers from 29 countries with a female ratio of 31%. Three newly started Special Collections focus on the vegetation of the most diverse continents, which are at the same time least represented in the international literature: Africa, Asia and Latin America. We highlight six outstanding papers of the previous year, among them Dembicz et al. (2021b, Vegetation Classification and Survey 2: 293–304), which received the Editors’ Award 2021. In conclusion, we see a good perspective for the journal development and its inclusion in the leading citation databases, but the success strongly depends on authors and readers of VCS. Abbreviations: IAVS = International Association for Vegetation Science; VCS = Vegetation Classification and Survey.