The IAAF put forward a number of reforms earlier this week aimed at better clarifying its Council's role as the "guardian of the sport", with its composition changed to "ensure the athletes' voice and better gender balance".

A total of 15 proposals were drawn up at the two-day IAAF Governance Structure Reform Forum here in the Dutch capital, including reducing the number of vice-presidents from four to two with one of each gender appointed by the Council.

A total of 29 of the 68 participants at the Young Leaders Forum are women, something which Coe tweeted was "good to see". 

The two-time 1,500 metres Olympic gold medallist was speaking at a second consecutive Forum - held on the sidelines of the biennial European Athletics Championships - having also been present at the 2014 edition in Zurich.

"They’re a really impressive group of young people - that’s hardly surprising; our sport does throw up smart, young, bright people," said Coe after being interviewed by two members of the Young Leaders Forum future group. 

"It’s great and I was so pleased to see, given the challenges that we still have around gender balance and equality in the sport, so many women involved in the young leaders team today.

"This is the second time I’ve spoken to them because of course I was in the European Championships two years earlier in Zurich.

"They’ve got some really thoughtful, very, very smart ideas about where the sport can go to, where it should go to, and actually, how we engage with more young people.

"And that’s the group of people that are probably going to be as insightful for us in that journey as any other group out there."

The Forum aims to equip young people to design and deliver projects that benefit the grassroots of athletics and local communities.

It was first held in Gothenburg in 2006, followed by Barcelona in 2010 and Helsinki in 2012. 

"When we talk about inspiring young people to be part of our sport, it’s not just simply about competition," added Coe.

"I want them to become coaches, educators, teachers.

"I want them to understand the commercial side of our sport, whether they’re in a volunteer capacity or in a professional capacity to feel that our sport is something that they want to dedicate a chunk of their lives too.

"And that really is vital if we’re going to grow the sport globally and use best experience among young people to help us shape the future.

"It really goes hand-in-hand and sits at the heart of all the reforms that we’re looking at at the moment in terms of what does our sport look like in five years’ time."

Following the interview with Coe, the young leaders took part in a session and workshop on project management, led by Andersson Elffers Felix - a Netherlands-based management consultancy firm.  

This was followed by four separate workshop sessions, run 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 some of the participants presenting 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 former pole vault world champion Rens Blom of The Netherlands.