A significant catalyst was the right of return, based on President Koivisto's initiative that people of Ingrian ancestry would be allowed to immigrate to Finland.
Katajanokka's residents include former Finnish President (from 1982 to 1994) Mauno Koivisto and composer Einojuhani Rautavaara.
The study circles have been conducted for more than 50 years and have in the past involved debates between several leading intellectuals, politicians, and scholars of the Nordic countries, including Niels Bohr, Mauno Koivisto, Johan Galtung and Horace Engdahl).