Caillum
Hedderman
Candidate for President of the European Youth Forum
Nominated by the World Organization of the Scout Movement
● Adapt
● Build
● Challenge
Candidate for President of the European Youth Forum
Nominated by the World Organization of the Scout Movement
Europe has changed — and so must we. Civic space has shrunk. Youth rights are challenged. Funding is under pressure. This mandate cannot be business as usual.
The direction we choose now will shape youth civic space in Europe for decades. The responsibility is real — but so is the opportunity. This platform matters — not for itself, but for who it serves and what it makes possible.
A Youth Forum that protects youth organisations as political pressure increases.
A Youth Forum that delivers tangible opportunities for young people.
A Youth Forum that operates with trust, transparency and effective governance.
A Youth Forum that prepares not just for the next mandate, but for the next thirty years.
A Youth Forum that is politically indispensable.
A Youth Forum that is a truly European movement.
We will not operate on assumptions or comfortable narratives. Adaptation means responding to the world as it is — not as it used to be. Governance must work in practice. Safeguarding must be real. Members must have visibility, voice and trust.
Advocacy without operational effectiveness produces statements, not outcomes. We will shape a platform that converts access into concrete value for Members: coordinated advocacy, political leverage, crisis support, partnerships and funding opportunities.
A credible Youth Forum does not exist to observe events. It exists to shape them. We will challenge institutions when youth rights are undermined. We will also challenge ourselves to meet the highest standards of integrity, effectiveness and responsiveness.
Each priority is mapped through ABC: the reality we face, what we build to address it, and how we deliver and measure it. These priorities were shaped through conversations with Members — our direction belongs to all of us.
The Youth Forum must be a movement that sets agenda, coordinates action and delivers results that Member Organisations can point to. These four priorities are about building a platform that earns trust, delivers tangible value, governs with integrity and moves with the momentum a changing Europe demands.
Trust is not just a concern — it is the foundation upon which everything else sits.
The events of the current mandate placed a significant and visible strain on trust within the platform. Critical moments highlighted real vulnerabilities in how decisions are made, how accountability is exercised and how conflict is managed at the highest level.
Trust is rebuilt through consistent action, not statements alone. The Board commits to reporting against reforms at Statutory Events — openly, substantively and with Member participation. Delivery is measured not by the Board’s own assessment, but by the confidence of the Members.
Every internal decision must be judged by one question: does this make the platform more valuable?
Often, membership of the Youth Forum is experienced as a relationship of obligations, reporting and occasional consultation. Member Organisations need more than a platform that represents them — they need one that actively strengthens their capacity and amplifies their impact. National Youth Councils and INGYOs face distinct needs; the platform must recognise and respond to both.
A regularly updated dashboard tracking how the Youth Forum is performing against its commitments. The measure of this mandate is not what the Board achieves in Brussels — it is what Member Organisations gain from being part of this platform.
Members must be able to see how decisions are made and have real power to influence direction.
The Youth Forum has, at moments in its history, become more oriented toward its own institutional continuity than toward the organisations that constitute it. Direction has been set by leadership and ratified by Members, rather than shaped by Members and carried by leadership.
The Board reports against commitments at every Statutory Event — open, substantive discussion rather than solely procedural approval. The Youth Forum’s direction is never allowed to drift from its founding purpose: a platform for, by and with youth organisations — led by young people.
The Youth Forum sets agendas, not just responds to them. It builds political momentum, not just access.
The Youth Forum has at times been more reactive than proactive — responding to institutional processes rather than shaping them. In a changing Europe, where political windows open and close quickly, a reactive platform is not enough.
The Youth Forum tracks and publishes its own momentum: what it initiated, what it shaped and what changed as a result. Momentum is not declared. It is demonstrated, mandate by mandate.
The Youth Forum’s external work must be judged by a single standard: does it produce tangible impact in the lives of young people and for youth organisations? Not just process, not just presence — outcomes.
If youth organisations weaken, young people lose their strongest collective voice.
Across Europe, the space for youth civil society is becoming more fragile. In some contexts, youth organisations are no longer seen as partners in democratic life — they are seen as targets. Funding is withdrawn. Operations are obstructed. Autonomy is contested by governments that view organised young people as a threat. This is present in EU Member States and Council of Europe members alike.
The Youth Forum speaks clearly on democratic backsliding — without equivocation. It tracks every threat reported by Member Organisations and publishes its response record. No Member Organisation faces a crisis alone. Indispensability is demonstrated every time the platform shows up.
Funding is the oxygen of youth civil society. The next MFF will define the funding landscape for a generation.
The funding environment for youth organisations is under sustained and accelerating pressure. Every file, including Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps, faces political contestation in the next MFF. National funding streams are shrinking. Conditions are increasingly project-based and ideological in some contexts, threatening the sustainability and independence that makes civil society meaningful.
The Youth Forum tracks and publishes its MFF campaign progress throughout the mandate — what was won, what was lost and why. Delivery on funding is the clearest test of whether our advocacy produces outcomes.
The agenda must follow the issues — housing, work, mental health, climate, digital, peace, rights.
Young people across Europe are navigating compounding pressures that no single policy domain captures. Housing that feels out of reach. Work that is insecure and poorly protected. Mental health services that are under-resourced. A climate furthering from preservation. Rights contested in law and in practice.
The Youth Forum tracks outcomes — not activities — on each thematic priority. Young people’s lived experiences are the measure of external success.
We must know when youth rights are under pressure — before a challenge becomes a crisis.
Threats to the rights of young people and the context for youth organisations are not always visible until they have already taken hold. Pressure builds incrementally — in policy decisions, in legal frameworks, in the withdrawal of recognition. The Youth Forum lacks a mechanism to detect these threats early enough to enable timely response.
The Youth Forum publishes its monitoring record throughout the mandate. The Membership holds the Board to the standard that no Member Organisation facing a rights challenge is left without response or support. Failures are answered for openly.
Experience only matters if it translates into effective leadership. Over six years in the European Youth Forum, I have led across three distinct domains. Each demands a consistent but nuanced kind of leadership — and each is essential to a President who can deliver.
Our next Board
A Board that functions as a collegiate body — with clearly defined roles, equitable workloads and shared accountability. Leadership means holding the team together under pressure, resolving conflict with integrity and ensuring every member can contribute and deliver. Governance is only as strong as the people who practice it daily.
Our Members
Member Organisations are not an audience — they are the source and beating heart of our mandate. Leading the platform means listening systematically, reporting transparently and ensuring the priorities of our Members drive the agenda. The President serves the Members. The Members serve young people. Every month, one of our team will reach you to check in.
Our Influence
External leadership means being credible, consistent and willing to take the positions that matter. It means representing the Youth Forum with authority across national, European and international arenas. In some moments, we will open doors. In other moments, we will hold them open against pressure. Presence is not enough. Influence is our objective.
The next mandate is a pivotal moment. The election of a new Board, FCC and CBMA couples with the kick-start of the mid-term Strategic Plan review, and the process of hiring a new Secretary General. Leadership is not one single person. It is all of us, committed to a movement working toward the same North Star. That is the Youth Forum I am standing to lead — with you.
I grew up in rural Limerick, Ireland. When I joined my local Scout group at eight years old, I had no idea that this step would shape the course of my life.
Youth organisations did not just complement my education — they formed it. They gave me confidence, responsibility and a sense that young people can lead long before anyone formally asks them to. My most meaningful learning happened in campsites, community halls and late-night planning meetings rather than classrooms.
Over time, volunteering turned into representation. I found myself taking on leadership roles in my community, then nationally, and eventually internationally — organising projects, negotiating across differences, and advocating for young people in spaces where they are often absent.
I moved from Limerick to Dublin to study, closer to where national decisions are taken. Later, I moved to Amsterdam, travelling regularly to Brussels to engage with European institutions. At each step, the motivation was the same: to understand how change happens — and how to make it happen.
Along the way, I have worked across policy, governance and campaigns, advising decision-makers and helping deliver real outcomes. I consider myself a principled pragmatist — guided by purpose, focused on delivery.
Youth organisations opened every door that brought me here. That is why this candidacy is not simply about personal leadership, but about ensuring that the structures which empower young people remain strong, effective and relevant — for our generation, and for the next.
I want to hear from you. Book a call, reach out directly, or send me your own ABC challenge — our direction is shaped by all of us.
