The EISCAT radars have been providing measurements of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere for over 3 decades; optical measurements (cameras, lidars, photometers, etc.) have provided data for longer than that. In August 2019 the 19th International EISCAT Symposium was held jointly with the 46th Annual European Meeting on Atmospheric Studies by Optical Methods. Following the success of this combined meeting, we are pleased to announce a special issue from this conference. Both the incoherent scatter radar and optical techniques can provide much information on the state of the ionosphere and the larger geospace environment. The joint meeting covered a large number of science areas that can be addressed by EISCAT and/or optical techniques: auroral physics, magnetosphere–ionosphere–thermosphere coupling, space weather impacts, polar cap dynamics; mesopheric dynamics and chemistry, the D-region, airglow, noctilucent clouds and meteors; active experiments and plasma physics; aerosols and clouds, transient luminous events and atmospheric electricity. In addition, there was a session dedicated to novel instruments and methods, including EISCAT 3D and optical instruments. We welcome submissions on all of these topics. We intend this to provide a snapshot of the state of the art in EISCAT and optical research, and as such this call is open to all colleagues working in this area, even if you could not attend the joint meeting. As long as your work is related to EISCAT and/or atmospheric research using optics, you are welcome to make a submission to this special issue.