  Active galaxies are often associated with starbursts, which are possible
sources of fuelling for the nuclear black holes. By means of optical (3500-7500
A) spectroscopic and narrow-band photometric data (H_alpha+[NII]6548,6583 and
[OIII]5007) it is possible to detect starburst features in active nuclei and to
study the correlation with Seyfert type and the surrounding environment. Here
we present evidences of young stellar populations (HI high order Balmer lines)
and extended H_alpha emission (indicative of HII regions) in 6 nearby Seyfert
galaxies (z < 0.02). These very preliminary results seem to suggest that the
nuclear starburst presence does not depend on the Seyfert type, favouring the
hypothesis of the AGN Unified Model. By estimating the present SFR (< 10^6
years) and recent SFR (< 10^9 years) we observe that these objects have
experienced most of star formation episodes in past epochs. This supports the
hypothesis of a starburst-AGN connection, favouring an evolutionary scenario in
which the AGN survives to the starburst.
