Purpose This trend paper argues that in disaster-prone regions of developing countries, teaching-led greening, rather than facilities-focused greening alone, has emerged as a future-shaping mechanism for eco-tourism systems. By embedding sustainability competencies, local knowledge and dynamic capabilities into curricula, disaster-exposed Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) can catalyze resilient, low-impact, and inclusive destination development. Design/methodology/approach The paper synthesizes emerging practices in education for sustainable development (ESD), dynamic capabilities theory and tourism futures research to examine how institutionalized teaching-led greening operates as a systemic lever linking curriculum design, assessment, governance and stakeholder partnerships to destination resilience. Findings Teaching-led greening enables HEIs to build a skilled green workforce, diffuse sustainability standards across tourism value chains, support transparent assessment and certification and strengthen community-based livelihoods, contributing to visitor trust, extended stays and climate resilience. Research limitations/implications Calls for comparative, multi-site evaluation of teaching-led greening initiatives and their measurable effects on destination-level tourism and resilience indicators. Practical implications Introduces a five-pillar teaching framework and a three-horizon roadmap linking curriculum levers to eco-tourism outcomes, with relevance for HEIs, tourism stakeholders and policymakers in disaster-prone developing regions. Originality/value The paper repositions the classroom, not only green infrastructure, as a core site of transformation in eco-tourism futures, framing sustainability as a repeatable, assessable capability rather than episodic advocacy.
Daisy Lily Moscare-Balanquit (Sat,) studied this question.