Cycassel
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Cycassel – The Joy of Cycling
Cycassel is an initiative of the University of Kassel that brings together students, academia, and the local community. Cycassel emerged from an interdisciplinary seminar organized by the Institute for Sport and Sports Science (IfSS), the BMDV Endowed Chair in Cycling and Local Mobility, and the University of Kassel’s core curriculum. In doing so, Cycassel combines perspectives from sports science with insights from urban society, creating opportunities to apply scientific findings to Kassel and to incorporate social issues into sports science research. In this sense, Cycassel builds upon the work of the Transfer and Application Center for Sport in Kassel (task) in terms of both content and concept. TASK aims to play an active role in societal change processes related to physical activity and health by making scientific findings accessible and usable for the urban community, while also incorporating and scientifically examining ideas from the urban community.
Cycassel puts this concept of knowledge transfer into practice: Students collaborate with citizens and other community partners to develop projects centered on bicycles and bicycle mobility in Kassel. In doing so, scientific perspectives are integrated with the experiences and needs of the urban community. The resulting projects bring research from the university into the city while also incorporating ideas from the community that can inform future work.
The focus is on the Kassel Cycling Weeks, which have been held annually since 2024. Together with students, citizens, clubs, institutions, and other partners, a diverse program centered on bicycles is created each year. Guided tours, athletic rides, workshops, lectures, panel discussions, and various hands-on activities are designed for people with diverse interests and backgrounds. Following the first two Cycling Weeks, the event was expanded for the first time in 2026 to span the entire month of May.
The Cycling Weeks and the Cycassel network have also given rise to concrete projects that continue to have an impact beyond the event weeks themselves. One example is the BiciBus, in which students ride their bikes to school together along set routes, accompanied by adults. Following initial trips to the Reformschule 2024, the concept was continued in 2025 as “BiciBus 2.0” and expanded to include the Offene Schule Waldau. Another key initiative is the Bike Lab, where bicycles and individual seating positions are analyzed using a motion-capture system and optimized as part of a bike fitting. The project thus combines the sports science expertise of the IfSS with a concrete service for the city.
Cycassel thus embodies science in dialogue with urban society: students gain practical experience, scientific findings are made accessible and applicable, and new ideas for a vibrant cycling culture emerge in collaboration with people from Kassel. The goal is to promote the joy of cycling while making a concrete contribution to shaping a city that is active and sustainable.
Click here to visit the Cycassel website: https://cycassel.org
Click here for the task page: https://www.uni-kassel.de/einrichtung/task/startseite.html
HR report from April 9, 2024, “Bike Week in Kassel” (hessenschau)