13 Apr 2026
Workshop: Sustainability and the Dutch Data Centre Landscape: Current Issues, Future Pathways
The Netherlands currently hosts around 200 data centres, making it one of Europe’s key hubs for digital infrastructure. While the sector is expected to continue expanding, it is also increasingly facing public and political scrutiny due to concerns about energy consumption, water use, and spatial planning.
Recent reporting has highlighted how major technology companies such as Google and Microsoft secure access to the Dutch electricity grid while providing limited transparency about the environmental impact of their infrastructures. The announcement of three new Microsoft buildings in Amsterdam, circumventing the city’s ban on hyperscale data centres and pressuring the city’s energy grid, has further intensified public debate. Today, data centres account for nearly 5% of total electricity use in the Netherlands (CBS, 2025).
During this event, we invite participants to reflect on the present and future of the Dutch data centre landscape. Together with invited speakers, we will discuss issues surrounding Big Tech, sustainability, and democratic decision-making, and explore possible pathways towards a more sustainable computational infrastructure.
While focusing on the Dutch context, the discussion will also consider developments in countries such as the United States, Ireland, Greece, and China. Central questions include: How should the benefits and harms of data centres be weighed? How can we better understand and regulate/monitor their environmental impact? And what might a more sustainable data centre landscape look like in the Netherlands, Europe, and beyond?
We warmly invite researchers, policymakers, students, green IT professionals and practitioners to join the conversation and contribute to a critical discussion about the future of digital infrastructure.
Program
14:00 - 14:10 Welcome & introduction
by Rianne Riemens: The Dutch data centre landscape in a global context
14:10 - 15:00 Thematic presentations
Talk by Charis Papevangelou (postdoc at the UvA): Data centres in Greece: The EU’s twin transition as industrial complex
Talk by Julia Rone (assistant professor at the VU): Democratization and the cloud: Contesting data centre construction in the Netherlands
Talk by Christiaan van Veen (board member at Leitmotiv): Data Center Environmental Transparency and the Future of Tech Infrastructure Policy
Q&A with speakers
15:00 - 15:15 Break
15:15 - 15:50 Workshop: Pathways towards a sustainable data center landscape
15:50 - 16:00 Closing reflections
16:00 Drinks
