ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS AND ITS IMPACT ON UNIVERSITY SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF STUDENTS AT A PRIVATE UNIVERSITY IN CHIMBOTE,

Purpose: To analyze the influence of environmental awareness on university social responsibility among students of a private university in Chimbote, Peru. Theoretical framework: Theories associated with environmental awareness, university social responsibility and other factors were addressed. Method: A mixed Dexplis-type approach was applied, with a non-experimental and cross-sectional design, where the total population was 1180 university students and the probability sample for the survey was 290 students and the non-probability sample for the interview was 30 students that served to collect quantitative and qualitative data respectively. Quantitative data were obtained through the ECA-FMEP instrument of environmental awareness (Laso et al., 2019), whose reliability was assessed by Cronbach's Alpha coefficient α = 0.905 and the RSU was evaluated through the RSU scale instrument of university social responsibility (Serrano et al., 2022), whose reliability was assessed by Cronbach's Alpha coefficient α = 0.868 which was obtained by being applied to a pilot test of 30 learners, where the quantitative data obtained were then processed in SPSS, and the qualitative data were obtained from the answers to the questionnaire of open questions that were evaluated with Atlas.ti software considering 20 codes, 12 sub categories and 8 categories, also taking into account other factors


INTRODUCTION
In recent times, there has been a growing interest in preserving the natural environment.
At a global level, where growing pollution, loss of biodiversity and climate change are some of the environmental problems that we currently face and in this situation, States have a great interest in promoting viable and innovative projects that improve the tranquility of the population., considering economic, social and environmental areas with the desire to achieve sustainable growth where the economy and the environment work together, establishing alliances for mutual benefit (Guillén de Romero et al., 2020).Currently, social and economic growth in China has caused an accelerated urbanization process, increasing the urban population and worsening the environmental pollution situation (Niu et al., 2022).
In this sense, universities play a fundamental role in training young people who are responsible and committed to caring for the environment that surrounds them, where sustainable growth requires promoting critical thinking and training individuals who adopt an ethical and global perspective in their professional career., while they become active and committed members of a society that seeks sustainable growth in different aspects, prioritizing the development of critical knowledge and the training of active, ethical and global citizens for a sustainable future (Fernández, 2018).
Latin America and the Caribbean face serious environmental consequences, such as deforestation, loss of biodiversity, pollution, lack of water and sudden climate changes, due to the concentration of toxic gases, where these phenomena have negative impacts on various sectors, especially in agriculture, and population growth only aggravates the situation by reducing the amount of arable land and, consequently, the production of food for the population, where the region must take urgent and effective measures to mitigate these problems and achieve a balance between the development and care of the environment (Olivares & Leyva, 2023).
In recent decades, an evolution has emerged in the objective of promoting environmental awareness in universities, going from simply implementing measures to manage the environmental impact in specific activities to developing broader strategies to achieve systemic sustainability in these institutions, considering the management of environmental aspects as part of a broader social responsibility, where this change in focus reflects greater awareness about the relevance of maintaining sustainable development (Villamandos et al.,2019).University Social Responsibility (RSU) in Latin America emerged in a transcendental event, the International Congress of American Students in 1908, as a commitment and duty of educational institutions towards their social environment, where this congress was the starting point for Universities will begin to reflect and take actions for the benefit of the community (La Cruz et al., 2022).
RSU in Peru has evolved over the years, initially known as social projection or university extension, where over time, universities have become increasingly committed to carrying out effective social management to contribute to the sustainable development of the country.where in 2020, Peru was recognized by URSULA as the country with the largest 4 number of universities affiliated to this organization, which demonstrates the growing effort and commitment of the study houses in this matter, intensifying the importance of the RSU in the country, being today a fundamental initiative to contribute to social and economic wellbeing (La Cruz et al., 2022).
The Tyndall Center of England establishes that Peru, after Honduras and Bangladesh, is the third country with the greatest vulnerability to climate change, mainly due to the fact that a large part of its population resides in arid, semi-arid and subhumid areas, which, Added to the retreat of water sources such as glaciers, their exposure to the consequences of climate change increases, where the essential economic activity is agriculture, fishing and other activities that strongly depend on climatic conditions, where geographical location, climatic diversity and economic dependence on the climate make Peru extremely vulnerable (Jaime & Badajoz, 2021).
During the last 50 years, cities like Chimbote located in the province of Santa in the Ancash region have experienced important changes in their socioeconomic and cultural structure, where the port of Chimbote was the city that received the largest migratory flow in the 1960s and 1970, thanks to the rise of the fishing industry (Julca et al., 2023).The industrialization of this bay has brought notable development, but at the cost of the environment, due to the presence of 48 fishing factories and a steel factory, which have contaminated and physically modified the coast significantly, damaging the marine ecosystem (Loayza, 2022). .Through recent and persistent rural-to-urban migration, a rapid process of urbanization and industrialization has been observed, consequently generating a growth in the demand for transportation and energy that can lead to environmental and social problems (Abdeljawad & Nagy, 2023).
University education plays an essential role necessary to address the most crucial challenges at a global level, such as food security, the impact of climate, water conservation, communication between cultures, the use of renewable energy and the well-being of people.
public health, where to achieve this, new professionals committed not only to their field of study, but also to the environment, society and the country in general, in a more inclusive and responsible way will be required (Montenegro, 2020). .The main objective of university education is to adequately prepare young people and adolescents for their future work or to start their own businesses once they have completed their period of study, but in many cases their training as complete individuals and aware of their role and responsibility is neglected.social in society (Rivera, 2020).
In recent years, environmental awareness has acquired a relevant position in debates on different areas of society, where reflection on the vital importance of ensuring the sustainability of the planet, through adequate management of natural resources, which has become a recurring theme in government policies (de Macêdo et al., 2021).Thus, the university is a fundamental place for people to understand the essential relevance of protecting the environment, addressing its problems and developing appropriate behaviors towards the environment (Gonzales, 2017).
RSU implies that universities promote sustainability and social equity, and that they adopt responsible actions in all their activities, including environmental management (Gaete, 2023).Ferreira et al. (2021) in their study where they demonstrated that social responsibility practices can produce significant internal advantages, in addition to external benefits for society.
Given the value of promoting environmental awareness as a way of reestablishing a balanced relationship with our environment and contributing to meeting the objectives of sustainable development, the general purpose of the research was to be able to analyze the influence of environmental awareness on the university social responsibility of students.from a private university in Chimbote.Likewise, specific objectives were set to determine the level of environmental awareness and university social responsibility of students, determine the correlation between each dimension of environmental awareness with RSU, identify challenges, difficulties and other factors related to development.of environmental awareness in university social responsibility and identify and analyze specific cases of effective collaboration between students, teachers and administrators of a private university in Chimbote.
The theoretical justification of the study manages to fill an existing knowledge gap regarding the impact that environmental awareness has on USR.Methodologically, since it is a mixed design, this is suggested as the most appropriate to investigate how environmental awareness can influence USR.Finally, from a social perspective, this study aims to collaborate in encouraging the environmental awareness of university students to obtain better results in social responsibility that will benefit the entire city of Chimbote.

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS
Environmental awareness is a mentality that involves the disposition, execution and deep knowledge about how human activities can positively or negatively affect the balance of 6 the environment, since it is a responsible and committed attitude that makes us reflect on our actions and decisions and how these can have an impact on the natural environment, being aware of our role in preserving the environment to achieve a sustainable balance that guarantees a healthy future for all, being important to educate ourselves and raise awareness about the importance of our actions and promote responsible practices that contribute to the care and protection of the environment that surrounds us (Rubina et al., 2021).
Environmental awareness addresses different psychological aspects that influence people's inclination to carry out actions in favor of the environment; Therefore, it can be described as a broad-scope term that is part of the attitude towards pro-environmental behavior, where attitudes are a manifestation of the favorable or unfavorable feelings that the individual has towards a specific situation, closely related to the The way in which one reacts to it and the level of evaluation of these environmental attitudes can reveal the causes that influence the behavior of each person towards the environment ( Gómez & Abarca, 2022).
Environmental awareness can be defined as the conglomerate of values, convictions, behaviors and principles that are related to the preservation of the natural environment, being the understanding and favorable predisposition towards environmental issues, which include essential aspects that, together with others, shape human societies and define their material, social and technological progress (Rustam et al., 2020).
The increase in anxiety about the environment results in a positive impact on the health of the environment at the local level, since it promotes actions and changes in favor of environmental care (Chen et al., 2019).Greater awareness regarding the relevance of caring for the environment in human beings will undoubtedly be a key piece in achieving solutions that serve to combat the environmental difficulties that exist in our society (Díaz & Ledesma, 2021).
The notion of environmental awareness as a conceptual idea that can help protect the environment where we live by applying the responsibility of human beings as a tool to solve an environmental problem by acting in a sustainable manner (Casa et al., 2023).

UNIVERSITY SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
In relation to the RSU approach, it is based on the perspective presented by Vallaeys et al. (2009) in the debate on this term, where they refer to the responsibility of universities in applying quality standards that include commitments to the environment and society in their management processes.7 University social responsibility is the institution's commitment to ethically and efficiently balance its influence on society through its academic activities, research and services.This involves managing its impact on the community, the environment and other organizations, contributing to the sustainable development of society and the country (Martí et al.,2018).
As an ethical and philosophical approach, RSU focuses on pedagogical issues and the improvement of the university itself, where this implies promoting university and social extension, as well as coordinating strategies to integrate academic teaching and knowledge production, with quality management that goes beyond philanthropy or welfare, where this perspective often collides with certain resistance in the university community, since it requires reflection on the university itself and a will to transform (Domínguez & Rama, 2012).
The Peruvian University Law establishes that RSU is the adequate management of the social impact generated by the university through its academic, research, extension and national development activities, established in Law No. 30220 of 2014 and shared by the entire university.university community, being necessary for the university to fulfill its function in society in a responsible manner (Cuba et al., 2023).

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE RSU
Among the elements linked to Social Responsibility, we can point out biological factors that determine the development and distinction of responsibilities between men and women, impacting their social environment; environmental factors, such as belonging to a nuclear family with participation in volunteer work, the type of secondary education (private or public), family socialization agents, school, parents, the media and the cognitive aspects they cover the training offered by each university degree and that influences the way we perceive and interpret our world, and consequently, the behavior of students (Castillo et al., 2017).
Socioeconomic level, previous education, personal experiences and laws are factors that influence University Social Responsibility (RSU), where in addition socio-emotional factors, such as school coexistence, could influence the learning of students, which in turn, it can impact the RSU (Macías & Bastidas, 2019).Regarding socioeconomic level, it has been found that students from universities with a higher socioeconomic level have a greater perception of USR and a greater willingness to participate in socially responsible activities (Martí et al., 2014).
University Social Responsibility (RSU) is a fundamental and complex concept in which multiple essential dimensions stand out.In this sense, Murrieta et al. (2022) emphasize the need for strategic planning that allows the university institution to identify itself within a system where its actions have a significant impact in the social, economic and environmental spheres.
For their part, Revuelta & Vegas (2020) highlight the essential role of universities in protecting the environment, highlighting their social and ethical duty in this regard.Furthermore, Espitia & Quintero (2021) propose a RSU model that incorporates a holistic vision, integrating the context in which the university develops and generating positive impacts on society.

METHOD
The mixed approach of explanatory sequential design (DEXPLIS) was used, which combines quantitative methods in the first phase and then qualitative methods to collect and subsequently analyze data, allowing a deeper understanding of the relationship and influence between environmental awareness and USR in students.university students, being nonexperimental and transversal, considering a population of 1180 students from a private university in Chimbote -Ancash -Peru.The design consists of a stage of quantitative data collection and analysis, followed by another of qualitative data, in which the previous quantitative results guide the collection of qualitative data and the second stage focuses on the findings of the first, where both stages are combined.combine in the interpretation of the final report of the study (Hernández & Mendoza, 2018).
For the quantitative analysis, a probabilistic sample of 290 students was defined by applying a survey to respond to the ECA-FMEP instrument of environmental awareness (Laso et al., 2019), structured in 4 dimensions and 30 items, whose reliability was assessed by the Alpha coefficient.Cronbach's α = 0.905 and the RSU was evaluated through the RSU scale instrument of university social responsibility (Serrano et al., 2022), structured in 3 dimensions and 20 items, whose reliability was assessed by the Cronbach's Alpha coefficient α = 0.868 when a pilot test of 30 students was applied, where then using the SPSS software version 27, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was applied to define normality due to a sample of more than 50 participants, where it was obtained that the data did not respond to a normal distribution, applying Spearman's Rho test to define the level of relationship of the variables and then with respect to the coefficient of determination, the influence of environmental awareness on the RSU of the students was demonstrated.
Regarding the qualitative analysis, a non-probabilistic sample of 30 students was defined considering the intentional sampling technique, where in this situation, the researcher personally and subjectively evaluates each candidate who will be included in the study (Feehan et al.,2022). .This sample went through a semi-structured interview of 15 questions aligned to the 20 codes, 12 subcategories and 8 categories, where the results found were analyzed with the help of the Atlas.tisoftware.Finally, an integration was carried out in the interpretation and explanation of the results obtained.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1 QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

Level of environmental awareness in university students
Note.SPSS V. 27 In Figure 1, it is seen that in the sample established for the analysis of quantitative data made up of 290 university students, it was found that 54.83% consider that the level of environmental awareness they have is at a regular level and the other 45.17% consider that this level is adequate.

Figure 2
Level of university social responsibility in university students.

Note. SPSS Version 27
In Figure 2, it is seen that in the sample established for the analysis of quantitative data made up of 290 university students, it was found that 54.14% consider that the level of university social responsibility they possess is at a moderate level and the other 45.86% considers this level to be favorable.

Table 1
Degree of correlation between environmental awareness and its dimensions with respect to university social responsibility.Table 1 shows that there is a very high positive connection between environmental awareness and university social responsibility in students, with a Rho value = 0.967 obtained through an inferential analysis, where when determining the significance of this relationship, a value of 0.000, this value being much lower than the threshold of 0.01, thus confirming the proposed hypothesis, which affirmed a highly significant relationship between both variables.
Likewise, with respect to the relationship between each dimension of the environmental awareness variable with respect to the second RSU variable, it can be inferred that there is a highly significant correlation (less than 0.01) and a very high positive correlation level when relating the affective and active dimensions.Regarding RSU, in addition, when relating it to the conative dimension, a high positive correlation is shown and a moderate positive correlation is shown with the cognitive dimension.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
It can be concluded that there is a correlation between environmental awareness and university social responsibility in the students of a private university in Chimbote, where a very high positive correlation is established with respect to the value of Spearman's Rho, being highly significant and with respect to the coefficient of determination, shows that environmental awareness is influencing 94.7% of the university social responsibility of students, while the remaining 5.3% is affected by other factors that contribute to supporting these results, where students have a predominant perception that environmental awareness is at a regular level (54.83%) and university social responsibility is mostly considered moderate (54.14%).systems with an orientation towards sustainability, can form a more developed environmental responsibility, personal experiences and influence Others, such as social pressure, can also have an impact on USR.Finally, access to sustainable resources and technologies, the influence of family and society and the legal framework and government regulations can be determinants in the promotion of university social responsibility, where these factors must be taken into account by universities in their promotion of sustainable practices and social responsibility to achieve a greater impact on its students.
In our opinion, University Social Responsibility is an integral part of the essence and purpose of the University, and is not something that is limited to a contemporary fashion or trend, because rather, it implies assuming responsibilities of solidarity, justice and sustainable development.demanding that the university community put into action what is established in its mission and strategic plans, implying a commitment by the university to serve society through ethical and efficient management, which goes beyond philanthropy and organizational administration .Therefore, University Social Responsibility is understood as an attitude that is not only limited to transmitting knowledge, but also focuses on being useful to society, driven by a self-critical consciousness that seeks to transform the university.
The university must assume social responsibility and involve all its members to work on improving and solving these problems, which in turn fulfills the objective of providing society with competent professionals with a global perspective, positive attitudes and a strong sense of of ethics, civic duty and citizenship.By incorporating socially responsible programs into academic programs, future professionals can identify and use their strengths to participate in their community with responsibility and ethical values, effectively addressing social needs, where universities have the responsibility to allocate the necessary resources to prioritize and strengthen its social responsibility actions, creating plans with a high social impact that benefit its community and stakeholders.Furthermore, additional research should be conducted in Peru, expanding the sample size to include more universities and students from both public and private institutions, in order to compare the findings and improve social responsibility policies

4. 2
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS Data was obtained about the 20 codes, 12 subcategories and 8 categories used in the research, where the questionnaire was applied by the researcher.Category 1: AFFECTIVE Subcategory 1.1: Affection for the environment the future of our society.Category 5: SOCIAL KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Subcategory 5.1: Knowledge dissemination capacity this In this sense, the analysis of the responses obtained in an interview allows us to identify and analyze additional factors that influence USR, beyond environmental awareness.

Environmental
Awareness and Its Impact on University Social Responsibility of Students at A Private University in Chimbote, Perú ___________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Gest.Soc.Ambient.| Miami | v.18.n.4 | p.1-19 | e05390 | 2024.15 University social responsibility (USR) is influenced by a series of additional factors beyond environmental awareness, such as socioeconomic level, previous education, personal experiences, influence of others, access to resources and technologies, cultural context.and geographical, the influence of family and society, in addition to the legal framework and government regulations.The socioeconomic level of students can influence their resources to access environmental education and adopt sustainable practices, prior education, especially in Environmental Awareness and Its Impact on University Social Responsibility of Students at A Private University in Chimbote, Perú ___________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Gest.Soc.Ambient.| Miami | v.18.n.4 | p.1-19 | e05390 | 2024.

Table 2
Level of influence of environmental awareness on university social responsibility.