 This year the Open University celebrates its 50th anniversary. When the Open University was founded it established a social mission that informs everything we do to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. Since that time the ways we realise our mission have changed. We now talk of open and engaged research involving stakeholders, academics, decision makers and citizens over any or all stages of a research process. Since joining the Open University my work has focused on exploring communication and engagement. My work sits at the boundary of theory and practice at the sites where academics, stakeholders, decision makers and citizens attempt to explore issues that have relevance to them. In this talk I will explore ideas about how communication and engagement are changing and so doing I will explore two questions. The first, how should we engage with the sciences and the second, how can we ensure that citizens have a meaningful voice in shaping the way that research has an impact on society and the economy.