“Harry Potter”’s Bonnie Wright on How Her Son Inspired Her Collaboration with Prince William (Exclusive)

The former "Harry Potter" actress has teamed up with the Prince of Wales for his Earthshot Prize

Harry Potter star Bonnie Wright is calling on young people to share innovative ideas that could help save the planet her son will grow up in.

Partnering with Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, Wright, 33, is working to inspire the next generation to come up with creative solutions to tackle global challenges.

The new competition, launched in collaboration with the iconic British children's show Blue Peter, aims to empower kids to "believe that the ideas that they have are important," Wright, who played Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter franchise, tells PEOPLE.

“It empowers young people to not feel like they’re being left behind,” she says of the effort aimed at 5-15-year-olds. “We’re leaning into young people’s imaginations and voices and ideas. And also bringing to the forefront something that I think is incredibly important.”

Children are invited to submit their original ideas to tackle one of the five Earthshot challenges: Fix Our Climate, Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, and Build a Waste-Free World.

“I can’t wait to see what ideas you come up with,” Prince William, 42, said as he launched the initiative on Sept. 6.

Wright, a longtime environmental activist with a vibrant platform called Go Gently (inspired by her book of the same name), has found new motivation in her son, Elio Ocean, who turns one on Sept. 19. She says her son has become “the lens you see the world through.”

"Just seeing the way that he’s experiencing the world – all the things he gravitates toward are things in nature,” Wright tells PEOPLE.

Related: Prince William Appears in New Video Announcing Collaboration with Popular Children’s TV Show

“It is interesting to see, though his innocent life, how much he interacts with nature, and again, why it’s so important for us, in more powerful positions as grown adults to make the effort and be aware," she adds.

Prince William’s Earthshot Prize will reveal the next winners of its $1.3 million awards at a ceremony in Cape Town, South Africa, this November. While Bonnie Wright won’t be attending, she says she'll be eagerly watching from afar.

Wright has met William before — in 2013, he, Kate Middleton, and Prince Harry toured the newly opened Harry Potter Studios in north London. “I remember vividly being on ‘Diagon Alley’ when he came to visit," she shares.

She praises the influence and leadership William is having in the environmental space in using his "platform to amplify other people."

"That’s what’s really cool – it’s passing the microphone to other people and amplifying what their ideas are. And, to me, that’s the greatest position of influence that you can have is uplifting other people.”

Having grown up in London, like millions of other young Brits, she fondly recalls watching the BBC's Blue Peter and says she’s “excited to reconnect with it as I love it.”

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"It was a big part of me and my brother’s childhood. It was the place you got inspired. It was obviously very creative and about things that were happening in that moment," she adds. "For children today, the climate and our changing climate is a massive part of their lived life."

Getting into the habit of hunting for new ideas is helpful, she says, in “directing our gaze towards the solutions we have and making people feel empowered.”

Related: Prince William Taps Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Friend Chef José Andrés for Earthshot Prize Role

The Earthshot Prize awards annual grants for innovative solutions across five key areas, a concept mirrored by the Blue Peter competition. Bonnie Wright, who focused on clean air for the Blue Peter promotion, highlights the dual approach to addressing this challenge.

“You have both angles," she says of potential ideas. "Either you’re thinking of an idea to mitigate and lower pollution or one to clean that air by absorbing it. Some people are going to be coming from urban homes and others from rural ones. The environment you’ve grown up in, is always going to affect your ideas.”

Wright's breakout role in the immensely popular Harry Potter series has come full circle with the announcement of an upcoming Harry Potter TV series.

“I was nine when I was first cast in Harry Potter, a true child," she tells PEOPLE. "I’d never been to an audition before. It was a whole new world. Talking about this innocent imaginative wonder we have as children — I very much was still in that place. I’m grateful I started such a massive part of my life where you are not so self-aware of yourself and you’re just being present.

“I hope all the people auditioning for it now can truly enjoy whatever unfolds for them. I saw that casting call and thought, ‘Wow, someone’s life is going to be changed.’ ”

The Blue Peter Earthshot Competition launches Sept. 6 and runs through Oct. 28, with winners announced on Blue Peter in 2025.

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