"To tackle the common problem of marginalization in rural regions in Europe and to address the need of those societies for a highly skilled, competent and flexible workforce, guaranteeing social inclusion, sustainable use of regional resources and environmental protection, the CRISTAL project (Creative Regions for Innovation, Skills, Technology, Accessibility and Learning) represents a new and exciting approach towards VET with the means of innovative STEM ""learning-by-making"" methods, digital fabrication, innovation and entrepreneurship competence, sustainability in teaching and learning and business know-how. The aim of CRISTAL was to develop a dedicated, dynamic and interactive ""open source"" virtual classroom in the form of a Knowledge Center, a platform for innovative STEM curricula along with Open Educational Resources for preschool, primary, secondary, upper secondary and adult education followed by a ""module"" for teachers' training.The main objectives of the CRISTAL project are the following: - To increase students' competence through innovative and creative learning; - To increase students' technological literacy and break down barriers to learning STEM-subjects; - To provide new interdisciplinary VET educational offers and didactic methodologies in the fields of STEM and IEE; - To provide education which is pertinent to the needs of rural marginalized communities in order to foster their competitiveness, enhancing their entrepreneurial and technological skills; - To elevate the status of vocational training; - To contribute to the promotion of environmentally sustainable forms of development for local communities.The partnership consists of five partners. The coordinator, Innovation Center Iceland (ICI) is a leading R&D institution in Iceland. ICI encourages innovation and promotes the advancement of new ideas in Icelandic economy by providing support to entrepreneurs and businesses. The Innovation Center operates several Incubator Centers that offers support and facilities to start-up companies working on innovative business ideas. Their Innovation and entrepreneurship services offers extensive internet information services, workshops and courses for SMEs and the general public. ICI the pioneer in bringing Fab Labs to Iceland and education in digital fabrication. Husavik Academic Center (HAC), which is dedicated to promoting and facilitating lifelong learning, university studies and interdisciplinary researches, has established an ""Educluster"" in the municipality of Nordurthing in North-Iceland that serves as a pilot-community in the CRISTAL project.Teachers at all school levels were involved in the activities and testing process of the intellectual outputs, developed within the project. University of Akureyri, Iceland, which has built a reputation for academic excellence and good industrial relations, involved the Department of Education in the project. The partnership is then composed of two SMEs, which will lead the in-formal and non-formal approach to the project. The Swedish start-up Lindberg&Lindberg Engineering AB has a wide area of competence in the field of ICT development. The Italian eco-innovative farm Azienda Agricola ""DORA"" brings expertise to the project in form of sustainability, environmental education, rural development, R&D and renewable energy production. The main result of the project lies in the establishment of the CRISTAL Knowledge Center on www.cristal.is in four languages. All of the projects results have been uploaded to a toolbox on the website and a functional virtual classroom can be found. The impact of our project involves critical and creative thinking to give learners the ability to interpret and take part and impact their society; enhancing rural entrepreneurship and sustainable development of rural areas. It also involves increased access to digital fabrication methods in schools in the area and increased interest of the teaching environment in the pilot community. Teachers in the pilot community are more interested in IEE, more flexible in their way of teaching and are more innovative. The project has also impacted the university as they have requested a cooperation with ICI to give lectures on IEE in initial teachers education at the university to get their students interested and aware of the matter. Long term benefits may be a change of teachers mindset and already schools in the pilot community have invested in equipment to evolve IEE teaching and increase interest in STEM subjects. Long term benefits, hopefully, may also include students seeing opportunities in their community, both in living there and creating job opportunities for themselves leading to rural development. Long term benefit can also lead to teachers' professional development within communities as they use problem-based methods in teaching."