Staging the invisible: tracing public value co-creation through sub-micro infrastructures configured by information coordination organizations in China’s disaster information services

In disaster information services, citizen- and volunteer-generated information arrives as dispersed, uncertain reports rather than usable response information. This qualitative case study examines how Organization Z, a Chinese NGO functioning as an Information Coordination Organization (ICO), makes such information usable for response through sub-micro infrastructures. Data comprise 43 volunteer and 11 coordinator interviews, longitudinal participant observation, and multi-source materials. Four mechanisms emerged: emotional activation makes participation visible; epistemic calibration supports report credibility through traceability and comparability; cross-sector translation makes verified information interpretable and acceptable as a basis for response action; and reflexive learning makes response experience partially reusable. We conceptualize staging as a conditional account of public value formation organized around the four thresholds of visibility, credibility, legitimate actionability, and partial reusability. The study contributes to public value co-creation research by explaining how ICO information work conditions whether information-related participation contributes to disaster response and public value formation.