In response to the global initiative of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), higher education institutions are increasingly expected to systematically integrate Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into their curricula, pedagogical approaches, and institutional strategies. While ESD has been widely discussed in the fields of science, engineering, and policy, its integration into art and design education remains comparatively underdeveloped. Particularly in non-Western contexts, the interdisciplinary, value-driven, and practice-oriented nature of ESD often generates significant tensions with art and design education models that emphasize individual expression. These tensions pose unique pedagogical and institutional challenges for the implementation of sustainability principles. This study takes the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts (TAFA) in China as a case to explore the pathways of cognitive acceptance, pedagogical practice, and institutional support for ESD in higher art and design education. As one of the eight leading fine arts academies in China, TAFA has long held a representative position in the field of art and design education. In recent years, it has actively introduced topics such as green design and humanistic sustainability into its curriculum reforms, providing a solid foundation for implementation and significant value as a representative case for research. The study is based on a structured questionnaire survey targeting three key stakeholder groups: students, teachers, and administrative staff. It focuses on four core dimensions: conceptual awareness, pedagogical and organizational practice, perceived barriers, and future needs. Survey results show that only 11% of students believe that their courses "partially cover" ESD-related content, while 76% of teachers have not yet systematically integrated the SDGs into their teaching. Administrative staff, meanwhile, pointed out the lack of concrete policy mechanisms to translate national ESD strategies into actionable institutional frameworks. Based on these findings, the study proposes a strategic optimization framework for advancing ESD at TAFA. The framework emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, co-designed curricula, enhanced institutional leadership, and culturally adaptive mechanisms. Its aim is to enable art and design education to more effectively align with the global sustainable development agenda, while simultaneously addressing the unique challenges posed by its pedagogical logic and organizational structure.