This thesis empirically studies what lay people living in Western countries regard the appropriate way to relate to nature. Their environmental ethic might be in line with Mastery over nature, Stewardship of nature, Partnership with nature or Participation in nature. Not only will the ethics of the public be elicited but also the two other components of the ‘Visions of Nature’ umbrella: the image of nature (What is nature?) and the valuation of nature. Based upon interviews and surveys among the population in North Western Europe and Canada, this thesis will test whether the public distinguishes the same images of the human/nature relationship as philosophers do and to which image they adhere most. The study will then search for links between lay people’s environmental ethics and other background variables such as religion. Further, by searching for correlations between Visions of Nature and public adherence to river management, this study aims to contribute to the practice of river landscape planning. This contribution is twofold; it gives recommendations on communication and it elaborates on the possibilities of incorporating public values in one of the first stages of planning, called visioning.