Earth Beat, 30 September 2011. The pros and cons of carving up our land. We tell stories about the walls we build to divide our environment, and why it’s sometimes best to have no barriers at all.

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Dadaab refugee camp

Host Marnie Chesterton travels up to Dadaab in Kenya - the largest refugee camp in the world, to look at the invisible borders present in the camp environment. William Spindler from the UN Refugee Agency explains the problem with the lack of borders.

Next Henuk Ochala from the UN gives a tour of the newest camp, Ifo extension, which is being filled up with refugees as it is built.

Then Marnie visits the outskirts of Dadaab to speak to new refugees, and finds a group scared of bandits and disease. They point her to the place where they bury their children.

She speaks to the Provincial Commissioner of Kenya's Northern Province, James Ole Seriani, about the effect all the refugees are having on the local Kenyan population (more photos below).

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Roaming free in Finland

Imagine a country where the cows roam free and everyone gets the same stab at living off the fat of the land. Sounds too good to be true right? Think again. Finland’s Everyman Right allows anyone to walk, cycle or ski almost anywhere they like, and help themselves to any local produce. There’s an exception for gardens and private orchards, but otherwise it’s pretty much a free-for-all.

Mika Asikainen from Finland’s Central Association for Recreational Sports and Outdoor Activities tells Marnie now is the time to keep an eye out for mushrooms and why the lack of boundaries benefits us all.

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The border environment

In 2004, Earth Beat producer Anik See (photo below) was denied entry into the United States, because she "lacked ties" to her home country. In this essay, she examines the environment of the border, and how its best days may be behind us.

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Breaking barriers

Guerilla photographer JR keeps his identity under wraps, but there’s nothing undercover about his artwork or the places he chooses to show it.

He used the separation wall in the West Bank to display photos of both Palestinians and Israelis pulling funny faces. Hear how an imam, a priest and a rabbi responded to the request (more photos below).

More about the Face2Face Project:

JR is the winner of the 2011 TED Prize - watch his talk here

Inside Out is a large-scale participatory art project by JR that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work.

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Cutting back the edges of a floral artwork

Chapman Kelley is the artist behind what used to be Chicago’s Wildflower Works: a giant living artwork planted in a park in the city.

But 20 years after he invested a vast amount of time and money into the project, the city authorities took a lawnmower to it and chopped it in half (more photos below).

He lost an initial case for infringement of copyright, but told Marnie why he’s not giving up the fight.

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