The first meeting of the Policy Council                                                                                                      
The first meeting of the Policy Council of the 16th IACR Research was held on Monday, July 10, 2023, in the presence of Mohammad Mahdi Esmaeili, Honorable Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance and Chairman of the Policy Council of the Festival, at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

The Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance said in the first session of the Policy Council of the 16th IACR that the event should respond to issues in the field of culture.

The first meeting of the Policy Council of the 16th IACR Research was held on Monday, July 10, 2023, in the presence of Mohammad Mahdi Esmaeili, Honorable Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance and Chairman of the Policy Council of the Festival, at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
The members present in this meeting were: Qasim Zaeri (Chairman of Culture, Art and Communication Research Institute), Seyed Majid Emami (Secretary of Public Culture Council), Alireza Maaf (Deputy of Qur'an and Etrat), Seyed Mohammad Hashemi (Legal Deputy, Assembly Affairs and Provinces of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance), Yasir Ahmadvand (Deputy for Cultural Affairs of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance), Seyed Majid Shah Hosseini (Head of the Academy of Arts), Seyed Mohammad Moghimi (President of the University of Tehran), Seyyedeh Razieh Yasini (Faculty member of the Faculty of Culture, Art and connections), Hojjat-ul-Islam Mohammad Mahdi Imanipour (CEO of Islamic Culture and Communication Organization), Farshad Mehdipour (Deputy of Press and Information Affairs of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance), Fatemeh Qasempour (Faculty member of Women and Family Research Institute), Mohammad Rahmati (Director General of the Office of Strategic Planning and Studies of the Ministry), Mohammad Hossein Saei (IRIB University faculty member), Hojjat-ul-Islam Mohammad Hossein Hashemian (Baqir-ul-Oloom University faculty member), Sajjad Safarharandi (Scientific Secretary of the Festival) and Mustafa Hosseini (Representative of the Presidential Vice President for Science and Technology).
 

In this meeting, Mohammad Mehdi Esmaeili said that we should consider a clear identity for the 16th IACR and that this event should differ from similar cultural events. In the Cultural Vice-Chancellor of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, two significant events with the titles "Jalal Award" and "Book of the Year Award" are held, which are valid and established. Anyway, the festival's path has started, and we will continue it. Of course, the same issues as before should not be followed and we should also consider various developments in the festival.

The honorable Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance said that the thematic division of this festival has been done based on three areas: culture, art, and communication. Esmaili noted that these three areas were chosen according to the name of the research institute, and various topics can be divided under them. The status of the international part of the festival should be clear, and the necessary permits should be obtained. This festival should not only be about awarding. Also, people who can answer the questions with our problem-oriented approach should be selected as winners in this festival. We need research in various sectors of culture, such as cultural diplomacy, cultural creative industries, and presence in international culture and art markets. This festival should lead us to research that can solve the cultural governance issues of Iranian society. This event should be introduced in active international networks to receive appropriate works for the festival. Iran's cultural advisers abroad are one of the main elements of these networks that can be used.
 

 

In the continuation of this meeting, Qasim Zaeri said that some of the most noteworthy goals of this festival are strengthening the "culture of research," laying the groundwork for conducting applied cultural research related to the fields of activity of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and the cultural needs of society, helping to explain the importance of cultural analysis in the process Local and national planning and policies.

 

Zairi went on to say that some of the actions that have been taken so far include the following:

• Rewriting the festival regulations and its approval by the Minister of Guidance.
• Remodeling the festival logo.
• Designing the festival poster.
• Creating a dedicated website for the festival.
• Changing the festival's title to the International Award of Cultural Research.
• The issuance of rulings by members of the policy-making council, the festival secretary, and the scientific secretary.

The head of RICAC also introduced the main sections and scientific groups designated for this festival: this festival has different areas, including "main," young (researchers under 35 years old), women, veteran researchers, and the best researchers in the provinces of Iran. The scientific groups of the festival include theoretical research of culture, cultural policy-making, cultural management and organizations, cultural history, cultural issues and damages, cultural analysis of the Islamic world, domains of culture (religion, family, identity, etc.), creative and cultural industries, research Literature and Persian language and research on childhood and adolescence.

Mohammad Hossein Saei also said it is better to add headings appropriate to the vice-chairs of the Ministry of Culture and Guidance, government issues in the seventh development plan, such as artificial intelligence, cultural governance in combination with cultural policy and the independent field of art so that this festival can be held more completely.

Farshad Mehdipour made suggestions regarding the scientific sections and groups of this festival and said that currently, the festival has a central section and four side sections (youth, women, veterans, and provincial), and it is better to define these four sections under the main section; Because the central part can have all four groups inside. It is necessary to consider the field of media independently.
 

 

Seyyed Mohammad Moghimi also presented his suggestions to achieve modern Islamic civilization and Iranian Islamic lifestyle and pay attention to ethics and said the existing axes include a significant part of research in the field of culture. Still, some topics are less included in the scope of this festival. Some issues, achieving the ultimate goal of modern Islamic civilization, which is mentioned in the statement of the second step, can be considered the main focus, which needs to be addressed in this section. This topic can be practical and in line with the Supreme Leader's orders. Some research has already been done on the Iranian and Islamic lifestyle and its components and challenges. This festival can answer these questions so that the problems of the Iranian Islamic lifestyle are identified and fixed. Ethics is also considered as the essence of culture. One always needs to pay attention to general and Islamic ethics. Therefore, how to expand its components should be seen, and this festival can help us in this direction.