The Norwegian was on hand to deliver a short speech at the start of the Forum, which aims to equip young people to design and deliver projects that benefit the grassroots of athletics and local communities.

Running alongside the 2016 European Athletics Championships in the Dutch capital, Hansen hailed the Forum as extremely important for the development of athletics.

The Young Leaders Forum was first held in Gothenburg in 2006, followed by Barcelona in 2010, Helsinki in 2012 and Zurich in 2014.

Also speaking on the opening day was Rien van Haperen, chief executive of Amsterdam 2016, and Bill Glad, head of the President’s Cabinet at European Athletics.

"Your federation believes that you have a commitment to do something for our sport, for athletics," Glad told the participants.

"The story of the Young Leaders Forum goes back to 2006.

"In Gothenburg, it was one of the ideas of the Local Organising Committee that their Championships would give more than just the athletics events."

Prior to this year's edition, more than 350 young leaders had taken part in the event, which is seen as a key activity in developing the European Athletics Young Leaders Community.

The Community is described as a unique space for active young people interested in athletics, developing their skills, community service and making new friends.

"We’ve done what we could under really tight budgets, but the Community has grown and it’s given a continuity of the forums in the two years between the forums," Glad added.

"I think this is important because it’s affecting the forums themselves - there’s a kind of feedback-impact relationship.

"But with the forums, we’ve developed the curriculum or the programme and it’s been about making the Community work.

"It’s been about the things that the Community is trying to make happen."

Following the series of speeches, the 68 participants took part in the opening session of the Forum - "Personal Development - The Mastery Class".

Led by Jordy Veth, talent development manager at Dutch insurance company Nationale Nederlanden, the session looked at ways in which the young leaders can make the most of their potential in working life.

This was followed by four separate workshop sessions, led by members of the Young Leaders Forum future group.

Among the topics discussed were doping prevention, innovative communications and social media, youth athletic programmes and athletic events promoted by local clubs.

Today’s proceedings concluded with the participants putting up their pre-Forum individual displays, illustrating their ideas on ways to contribute to the development of athletics at local and national levels.

The Forum is due to continue tomorrow, starting with a guest interview with International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) President Sebastian Coe.