Roots&Routes TV - Interview with Valentina Calà

I met with Valentina Calà and talked a little about the Roots&Routes TV project. Unfortunately, she was only the representing the organization behind the project, and hadn't actually worked on this site. The actual site was made by Aileen Wessely, who was unable to attend the event. We talked instead about the concept of the site and the organization, which is to offer young people of different nationalities the possibility and the equipment needed to get their voice heard. They organize workshops, where the people work together to produce documentaries, create music and organize events, among other things. The key element of the Roots&Routes organization is in giving the enthusiastic people free hands to do whatever they're interested in, and also the access to the resources and equipment they wouldn't be able to use otherwise.

The site is not specifically aimed at people interested in Roots&Routes, but people who are already active in the organization. The site offers them the possibility to upload their videos (hence the "TV") and then link different people into the same content, creating networks of people working on similar projects. The site has about a thousand individual active users visit the site each month.

I also asked her why the Roots&routes site should win its category. She told me that the key aspect of Roots&Routes is the way it offers all participating people the possibility to do what they're interested in - regardless of whether they would have the money and resources to do it outside the organization. Sounds good to me!