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Understanding user needs: a practice-based approach to exploring the role of weather and sea ice services in European Arctic expedition cruising

ABSTRACT Climate change has been credited with making the Arctic Ocean more accessible to maritime transport, but those navigating its waters must contend with highly dynamic and unpredictable weather and sea ice conditions. Despite ongoing developments in weather and sea ice services to enable responsible and safe operation and navigation, little is known about what and how these information services are used, and whether the services meet the information needs of maritime sectors. Here we address this gap by providing insights from the expedition cruise tourism sector active in European Arctic ocean areas. By applying a social practice theory perspective and relying on semi-structured interviews we show how weather and sea ice services are currently used by expedition cruise operators in various operational decision-making contexts. We argue that practice theory contributes to understanding user needs in a more contextualized way, which is essential for enhancing and tailoring information services. Our analysis suggests that weather and sea ice are only two elements in a complex socio-material setting. Finally, we argue that weather and sea ice services contribute to the resilience and rationalization of the expedition cruise sector in the European Arctic and beyond.