Smart green space management
Learn how we use smart sensors and data-driven analysis to optimize the irrigation of urban green spaces, for healthier trees, beds and parks with efficient use of resources.
Soil moisture is measured at different soil depths depending on the vegetation type, providing data across different soil layers.
Green Coding special prize
In September 2026 the state of Schleswig-Holstein honoured Green Ecolution for resource-efficient software and demand-based irrigation. Digital minister Dirk Schrödter presented the prize in Kiel.
Read about the award ceremonyIn smart green space management, sensors continuously monitor green spaces and provide the data basis for their irrigation and care. This allows measures to be controlled precisely and adapted to the respective site conditions.
Sensors at several depths show how moist the soil is in the root zone.
Analysis of the data transmitted by sensors for demand-based irrigation of young trees.
Young trees are particularly vulnerable to heat and therefore need protection. That's why trees are monitored during their first three years at their site.
Using the LoRaWAN network, different locations can be monitored, and additional ones can easily be added.
Cities water by feel.
Not by need.
Urban green spaces regulate the microclimate, promote biodiversity and strengthen a location's competitiveness. But persistent drought and a lack of digitalization threaten this asset. Many municipalities base their irrigation planning solely on the judgment of individual staff, with no data basis at all. Instead of demand-based irrigation, watering is done uniformly, wasting water while still not reaching every tree. Unoptimized irrigation trips also cause avoidable CO₂ emissions.
Water is consumed by a mid-sized municipality for irrigation, often without a data basis and without demand-based control.
is the cost of a single street tree. If it is lost due to insufficient irrigation, this damage alone covers the sensor costs for several years.
can be the cost of a complete street bed, including civil works, substrate and infrastructure.
Green Ecolution is built for municipal operations. The benefit differs depending on the role.
Decisions about water, staff and vehicles rest on measurements instead of experience. Consumption and operations are documented per area and per tour, and can therefore be evidenced.
Schedules and tours are generated instead of assembled by hand. The fleet, the teams and the review of actual consumption all live in one place.
The tour can be viewed in the app and can also be transferred to the navigation device in the vehicle. A traffic-light system on the map shows which trees and groups need water.
We run the platform, and where preferred inside the municipality's own Kubernetes cluster. Open interfaces, a plug-in system and open source keep the data and the control in house.
This is what it looks like day to day. The person watering sees what the site needs at the tree. The person planning sees it at their desk. Both work from the same data.
What you need for itEveryone else benefits indirectly: healthy urban trees cool the city climate and support biodiversity.
From sensor data collection through intelligent route planning to detailed analysis: all the features for efficient and sustainable green space management
All key KPIs at a glance: soil moisture values, upcoming tours, team availability and vehicle status in one central dashboard.
Group trees into irrigation units. Automatic calculation of water demand per cluster.
Manage vans and trailers with water capacities. Automatic refill stops in route planning.
Optimized irrigation schedules with real-time status: from “planned” through “active” to “completed”.
How the route optimisation worksManage drivers by license class and availability. Optimize deployment planning.
Document actual water consumption per cluster and tour. Analyze trends and optimize future planning based on data.
Designed for use in public spaces. Sensors at three depths (30, 60 and 90 cm) capture the full root profile of a tree, from the near-surface fine roots to the deeper main roots. This makes it possible to see whether water actually reaches the root zone or only wets the surface. Installation is flush with the ground using standard soil augers. Maintenance work such as mowing is not affected.
The probe is the carrier, not the sensor. It takes several sensor types, so the configuration can be matched to the requirements.
The probes are available through PROGEEK GmbH.
Volumetric measurement of soil moisture at multiple depths
Measurement of soil temperature for precise irrigation recommendations
Two films show what we are working on: the State of Schleswig-Holstein's video on our Digitalisierungspreis 2026 award and the television piece public broadcaster NDR filmed about the project.
Green Ecolution received the Green Coding special prize at the State of Schleswig-Holstein's Digitalisierungspreis 2026. The state's video introduces the project and the open source solution for needs-based irrigation. It is in German.
Land Schleswig-Holstein | Digitalisierungspreis 2026
In August 2026 the Schleswig-Holstein Magazin reported on urban trees that no longer survive the dry summers and spent a morning filming in Flensburg. The piece shows a soil moisture sensor going into the ground and how the city's technical operations centre plans the next watering run from its readings. It is in German.
NDR SH | Schleswig-Holstein Magazin | 29.08.2026
Soil moisture sensors capture soil moisture and temperature at multiple depths (30/60/90 cm). The data is transmitted energy-efficiently via LoRaWAN.
A traffic-light system shows the current irrigation need on a map. Staff can see at a glance which green spaces need water. Time series enable detailed analyses.
Automated dispatch and route planning generates optimized irrigation routes, taking into account water capacity, vehicle size, and road restrictions.
In the end it comes down to the run. The route is settled before the vehicle leaves: which sites need water, how much has to be carried and in what order they are visited. Instead of a blanket round, it follows what the sensors in the ground have measured.
The publicly accessible demo instance shows the current feature set: map view with a traffic-light system, dashboard with sensor data, and automated route calculation. No installation needed, directly in the browser.
We continuously develop Green Ecolution further. Take a look at the latest features and find out what we're currently working on.
In collaboration between PROGEEK, Smarte Grenzregion, the City of Flensburg and Hochschule Flensburg, a demand-driven and data-based irrigation system for trees is to be established.
PROGEEK stands for innovative IT solutions, custom software development, and digital consulting, with the goal of guiding companies on their way into the future of digitalization.
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The project "Smarte Grenzregion zwischen den Meeren" aims to drive digital transformation in the region in order to shape integrated and sustainable urban and regional development and strengthen the common good.
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Hochschule Flensburg offers practice-oriented degree programs with a focus on applied research and close collaboration with industry.
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The Technisches Betriebszentrum (TBZ) is the central service provider for the City of Flensburg and is responsible, among other things, for the upkeep of public green spaces, street cleaning, and waste management.
Visit websiteGreen Ecolution started out as a master's project in Applied Computer Science at Flensburg University of Applied Sciences, together with the municipal service centre of Flensburg and Smarte Grenzregion. The question was whether watering in municipal day-to-day work can really be steered by data, with sensors in the soil and tours derived from them.
The answer was clear. In user tests with the service centre the application scored an above-average usability rating and was described as clear and manageable even by staff without an IT background.
On that foundation PROGEEK is building the solution municipalities can use today. Sensors and platform have been laid out for regular operation.
Green Ecolution makes the watering of urban trees traceable. Sensor data shows which areas need water, and the scheduling turns that into tours without unnecessary trips. Watering this deliberately saves water, fuel and staff time, and decisions rest on measurements instead of experience.
For municipalities that means missing water becomes visible earlier, consumption is documented, and the solution can be operated in-house and developed further together, without being tied to a single vendor.
For scheduling and route planning, the locations of the trees and areas, the vehicles you already have with their water capacities and the refill points across the city are enough. Sensors are not a prerequisite for this; they improve the prioritisation. Once probes are added they need a radio link: LoRaWAN today, or NB-IoT with a SIM card as an alternative.
Which data and which infrastructure are needed in detail is set out under the requirements on the project page.
Three things, in practical terms. You can read and have audited what the system does with your data. There are no licence fees. And you are not tied to a vendor: the source code is public on GitHub and stays with the municipality even if it decides differently later.
Setup, operation and support are ours to handle. Open means you could do it yourself, not that you have to.
The soil probe is our own development, designed for use in public spaces. It is the carrier, and it takes several sensor types at up to three depths, which makes it possible to cover the root profile of a tree. Which sensors sit inside is a matter of configuration, not something fixed.
In the research project these were a Watermark sensor for soil water tension and an SMT100 sensor for soil moisture and temperature. We have adapted the configuration for municipal use since then and keep developing it.
Sensors from other manufacturers are supported and can be connected through The Things Network and the plug-in system. This has not been proven in the field so far.
The "Green Ecolution" research project was successfully completed as part of the Applied Computer Science (Angewandte Informatik) master's program at Hochschule Flensburg. Building on the results achieved in the project, the further development is now being continued.
In October 2025, the project received funding through the DigitalHub Call for Concepts of the state program "Offene Innovation – Open Source made in Schleswig-Holstein". This enables the system to be further expanded and tested in practice.
PROGEEK, the City of Flensburg, and Smarte Grenzregion are currently working together on the further development and integration of the system, in order to transfer the insights gained into everyday municipal practice on a lasting basis.
Do you have questions, feedback, or a request? We welcome your message and will get back to you as soon as possible.
